Mumbai: We’re into the seventh game of the fifth set, right after the two players have split the 280 points exactly between them over nearly 200 minutes of tennis until then.
This was a classic cat-and-mouse game. Except, this was played out by two beasts stretching their physical limits while going toe-to-toe for four hours and 28 minutes in the latest finish ever at the US Open. At long last, at 3.33am in New York, Shelton pushed his tongue out after pummelling a 146mph ace on match point to close the 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) classic and unlock a semi-final spot.
It was a delayed start alright, but by no means a drab one. Alcaraz tried different return positions from the get-go, and asked questions of Shelton’s serve that was just about holding on. It couldn’t in the 11th game where Alcaraz got the break (to love, no less) that was coming. What many didn’t see coming, however, was a loose game from Alcaraz while serving for the set. Which he took despite Shelton pulling off a tweener. Early in the fourth set, Alcaraz looked at his box with a hint of frustration. Two points later, after a crisp volley crouching at the net, his body language lifted. Alcaraz was switched on again as Shelton, who went off the boil a bit, was broken again in the sixth game.
The Spaniard’s forehands went missing early in the tiebreaker too, until he found it just in time with two sumptuous winners from 4-5 down to earn a set point. As did his right fist, when he broke Shelton to go 2-0 up. Because two of the three earlier matches had gone to match tiebreaks, including the comeback win of Frances Tiafoe, Shelton’s next opponent, that guarantees an American finalist, the quarter-final began past 11pm.
The 23-year-old American hadn’t beaten a top-three player in 17 attempts. He hadn’t beaten the world No.3 in their three previous clashes.
Odds were stacked against him until, on Tuesday night leading into Wednesday morning with the home crowd chanting “USA, USA” till the end, Shelton flipped it dramatically. “That’s what kept me going, and that’s what got me this win,” said Shelton on court, acknowledging the fans that had stayed back.
