Power vs. finesse- that was the theme of the all-American clash between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe at the US Open, with both of them making a run for their first Major final. However, it was the day for the younger American to take the spotlight, as Shelton geared up to become the first American man in 23 years to win a Grand Slam at his home Major. The American showed a lot of maturity in his on-court interview, not forgetting to pay tribute to his late grandmother.
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Speaking in his on-court interview, Shelton grew emotional.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of emotion. My dad and my mom have sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today. My dad lost his mom earlier this year, and she’s the reason that he was able to play tennis—without her, you know, there’s no Ben Shelton standing here today, so this one is for her. This one is for her.”
The match took three hours and seventeen minutes to settle. Tiafoe took the first set 6-4, Shelton leveled things by winning the next two 6-3, 6-3, and a tense fourth set stayed on serve until Shelton edged ahead 6-5, then earned triple match point as Tiafoe served to stay alive, closing it out 7-5 on a double fault.
But the story behind that tribute runs through Huntsville, Alabama, where Bryan Shelton grew up before his mother’s support helped him take up the sport that would come to define three generations of the family.
The “her” in Shelton’s tribute was his grandmother, Regina Ann Shelton, and the tennis lineage she started ran through almost pure chance. Regina picked up the sport herself as an adult, taking lessons through Huntsville’s Parks and Recreation program at Brahan Spring Park under longtime local coach Gordon “Brick” Warden Jr.
Taken with the game, she enrolled her four children, Bryan among them, in the city’s summer tennis program, and three of them went on to play through high school and college. She didn’t stop at her own household. Regina spent a decade, from 1979 to 1988, as an area vice president for the Alabama chapter of the USTA, building the same grassroots tennis scene that had given her family its start.
Bryan rode that foundation to Georgia Tech and a nine-year ATP career that peaked at No. 55 in the world, then into coaching, where he became the first Division I head coach in history to win national championships in both women’s and men’s tennis (first with Georgia Tech’s women’s team in 2007 and then Florida’s men’s program in 2021), before stepping away from college coaching in 2023 to travel full time with his son.
Regina died this past March at 90 and did not live to see this particular Friday, but Ben made sure she was part of it anyway, as her grandson stood as the first Black American man to reach a US Open men’s final since Ashe did in 1972, and, should Sunday go his way, the first former college player of either gender to win a major singles title since 1984, a nod to the same Florida program his father once ran.
That said, playing his semifinal on September 11 did not escape Shelton‘s notice, and he paid a heartfelt tribute to the lives lost in the New York attacks back in 2001.
“And one more thing, it’s a difficult day to be out here playing. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who are impacted by 9-11,” said Shelton in his on-court interview. “This is one of the greatest, greatest cities in the world and one of the biggest tragedies, but yeah, thoughts and prayers to everyone involved and affected. Thank you guys”
In the interview, Shelton also urged the crowd, saying, “I’m gonna need you guys on Sunday to bring the energy. I’m going for it here. I’m gonna leave it all on the court.”
He will need it. Alexander Zverev leads their head-to-head 5-0, with four of these five wins coming in straight sets, and has won his past 13 Grand Slam matches against left-handers.