A historic night for America comes to an end as Ben Shelton books his spot in the US Open final after beating fellow American Frances Tiafoe in 4 sets. After the 3-hour, 17-minute battle, Tiafoe knew this was a tough pill to swallow.

In his post-match interview, the American said, “It’s a tough one. It’s hard… It’s been a great season for me, but this one is tough… We wanted to win this one.”

Frances Tiafoe’s US Open semifinal had started beautifully, but Ben Shelton slowly turned everything around. Tiafoe found his opening at 4-4 when Shelton double-faulted, then served out the 1st set 6-4. The Arthur Ashe crowd erupted as Tiafoe moved closer to the final he had wanted for so long.

But that moment became the last time Tiafoe had any control in the match.

The second set changed everything, as Shelton raised his level and started putting Tiafoe under pressure. Tiafoe could not create the same openings, while Shelton’s serve kept pushing him further behind.

In the third set, Tiafoe faced 7 deuces at 3-5 before another mistake finally handed Shelton the set. From there, Tiafoe kept fighting, but simply could not find his way back into control.

The fourth set gave Tiafoe another chance, but Shelton kept answering whenever the pressure started building. At 5-6, Tiafoe saved 1 match point before double-faulting on the next, ending another painful semifinal run.

Tiafoe added, “We wanted to win this one. You know, it’s just the last couple of weeks; it’s been great weeks, but haven’t been able to finish.”

That made this defeat even harder, because Tiafoe had now lost all 3 of his US Open semifinals. Moments after the match, cameras caught him covering his face with a towel inside the players’ tunnel. The emotion became too much to carry after another chance at the final had slipped away.

But only days earlier, Tiafoe had comforted a crying Alex Michelsen after their quarterfinal.

Tiafoe had told Michelsen, “Brother, you’re going to be here many more times… and I’m going to be watching you from home when you achieve it.”

Now, those words may be exactly what Tiafoe needs to remember after a painful night. He has come close to this dream several times, but he keeps falling at the final step.

But Tiafoe made his goal clear: “I want to do the thing, man. I want to be a Grand Slam champion one day and just get back to the drawing board and keep working.”

Frances Tiafoe knows he got outplayed by Ben Shelton

Frances Tiafoe’s US Open dream came to an end again, as Ben Shelton beat him 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. Tiafoe had started strongly, but Shelton slowly took control and kept pushing him further behind. For Tiafoe, it was another painful semifinal, with the Grand Slam final still remaining out of reach.

But this time, he knew exactly where Shelton had made the biggest difference.

What made Shelton’s win so impressive was how much better he served when Tiafoe needed answers. Shelton landed 75% of his first serves, compared with only 57% for Tiafoe.

“He served really well tonight, which made it really tough for me,” Tiafoe admitted after watching his chances disappear.

“I did not serve great. So I was just trying to hang in there on my service games, but ultimately we didn’t say much.”

But the longer the match continued, the more Shelton started finding his rhythm from everywhere.

“He’s hanging tough in rallies; he is not spraying as much,” Tiafoe said, praising Shelton’s growing control.

“He is starting to get more solid, so his game is starting to get more polished.”

At 5-4 in the fourth, Shelton missed 4 backhands, but Tiafoe could not turn that opening into another chance.

That moment summed up Tiafoe’s night, as opportunities appeared but never stayed around for long.

“For me, even though I have won a lot of matches, something that is lacking for me is my serve percentage-wise,” he said. “I was working way too hard on my serve,” Tiafoe added, knowing that part must improve.

Now, he heads toward Tokyo on September 30, while another Grand Slam dream waits for another year.