It was an all-American semifinal at the U.S. Open last night and, more specifically, an African-American battle between two rising stars.

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are part of a new generation of tennis stars hoping to follow in the footsteps of John M Enroe, Jimmy Connors, Andre Aggasi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, and Andy Roddick.

 The last American man to win the U.S. Open was Andy Roddick in 2003.

The first African American to win the U.S. Open was Arthur Ashe in 1968 and he again made it to the final in 1972, losing to Jimmy Connors. That was the last time an African American appeared in the U.S. Open final.

Tiafoe has made the US Open semifinals three times in his career and this would be Ben Shelton’s second appearance. He lost to Novak Djokovic the first time in 2023.

There was a lot of excitement around this matchup. Tiafoe has had a good year, while Shelton has had a good run at this tournament, beating Shapovalov, Tsitsipas and Alcaraz. Shelton has made significant improvements to his game.

Tiafoe, whose parents come from Sierra Leone, won the first set 6-4, and the feeling was that spectators were in for a long night. At some point, Shelton would spark into life

Indeed, he did, rattling off the next three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to win the match.

Shelton was serving big and heavy, and that weapon got him over the line. Tiafoe was able to stay in and win long rallies, but he had no answer to the number of big serves Shelton fired at him. One Shelton served was clocked at 158 MPH, the fastest serve in U.S. Open history. Tiafoe was defending most of the time, unable to impose himself on Shelton. At the net exchanges, Tiafoe fared better. Shelton’s ground game was rock solid, and he kept the ball deep.

The man from Atlanta played with determination and swagger, with Tiafoe finding it difficult to break Shelton’s serve. Shelton threw down 20 aces with 75 per cent of his first serves going in. He hit an incredible 40 winners.

He now faces Alexander Zverev in the final on Sunday. Zverev has had a fantastic year.  He lost an epic five-setter to Alcaraz at the Australian Open semifinal, won his first Grand Slam at the French Open and then made it to the Wimbledon final, where he was beaten by Sinner. Zverev is now up to N0.2 on the ATP rankings.

Speaking after his win against Tiafoe, Shelton said: “Frances ( Tiafoe) is like my big brother. To be honest, every time we get to take the court together and play each other is super special. To be able to light it up in front of you guys is the best feeling there is .

“I think I’ve grown up; I’m more mature, more focused. I know what my job is and I’m a hundred per cent committed.”

Addressing the supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he continued: “ I’m going to need you guys on Sunday to bring the energy. I’m going for it here. I’m going to leave it all on the court. Let’s do this for the USA. “

Both Shelton and Zverev are coached by their fathers.Ben Shelton’s father, Bryan, was a former player who later became a college coach. Alexander Zverev Sr. was a former professional tennis player who later coached both his sons, Mischa and Alexander.. Mischa later became part of his brother’s coaching team.