Neither deserved to, but one had to go.
Redemption was served.
Yes, both figure to remain at the forefront of American men’s tennis for the foreseeable future.
But Frances Tiafoe finally has bragging rights in this friendly rivalry and perhaps restored his stature as one of the top hopes for the United States to break its 21-year Grand Slam drought.
The heavily anticipated U.S. Open rematch between No. 13-ranked Ben Shelton and No. 20 Tiafoe — two of the best and most popular American men’s players — came earlier than what was desired, in the third round Friday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Last year, Shelton beat Tiafoe in the quarterfinals in what went down as one of the most memorable matches of the tournament.
If last year’s classic was the appetizer, Friday’s 4:03, five-set encore was the main course.
Shelton, still just 21 years old, and Tiafoe, 26, largely matched each other shot for shot, and it ended with a new result.
just over four hours. Charles Wenzelberg
Tiafoe beat Shelton, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round.
He’ll face the winner of the (No. 2) Novak Djokovic-Alexei Popyrin (No. 28) match.
Each time it looked like Shelton was about to pull away, there was Tiafoe fighting his way right back into the match.
But Tiafoe kept providing answers, and eventually had more energy by the end.