Ben Shelton Advances in US Open with Gritty Four-Set Victory
Ben Shelton has always loved a big stage. On a soaked, stop-start New York afternoon, he showed again why Arthur Ashe and its neighbors might be his favorite playground.
The No. 8 seed fought past Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the US Open, grinding through another four-set test that felt more like a September street fight than a routine second-round win.
Shelton has now reached the third round at eight straight hard-court majors. In New York, he’s already written himself into the recent memory of this place with last year’s run to the semifinals. This time, the path is rougher, the tennis less clean, the margins thinner. He doesn’t seem to mind.
“I think being battle-tested is great,” Shelton said after backing up his four-set opener with another long haul. He admitted he could have “won this match more efficiently,” but tipped his cap to Hurkacz and the rising level across the net. The Pole dragged him into awkward positions, forced him to improvise, and in doing so teased out some of the improvements Shelton had been chasing over the past few days.
Had Hurkacz not pushed so hard, Shelton said, “there are so many things that I've wanted to clean up over the last couple of days that naturally came out and continued to improve throughout the match.” This wasn’t just survival. It was work, done under pressure, with the scoreboard tight and the stakes real.
“Playing a match like that definitely, you know, benefits me moving forward,” he added, sounding more energized than relieved.
Rain, roofs and a scrambled schedule
Outside the two big arenas, the weather ran the show. For a second straight day, rain pelted the grounds and stalled the schedule. Matches on the outside courts stopped and started, then stopped again. Only Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium, with their roofs closed, offered any sense of normality.
The calendar, already stretched by the tournament’s relatively new Sunday start, frayed further. When the US Open moved the opening round to a three-day window last year, the idea was simple: spread the load so that by Wednesday, everyone would be into the second round. The rain ripped up that script.
Some players were still trying to finish their first round while Shelton and others were already fighting for a place in the third. The men’s event alone squeezed in 25 singles matches on Wednesday as organizers raced to catch up. The first round finally wrapped up by nightfall.
Medvedev cruises, with a feathered interruption
On Armstrong, No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev cut through Sebastian Gorzny 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, a straight-sets win that was smooth on the scoreboard but briefly surreal on the court.
Two birds settled on the net during a point. Medvedev assumed the chair umpire would stop play. The point continued. Medvedev ripped a winner. Only then did the umpire call for a replay.
“This would be definitely in the top five,” Medvedev said when asked where the moment ranked among his odd New York experiences. He described expecting the referee to halt the rally, only to hear “Stop, stop, stop” after he had already finished the point with a winner.
“It’s okay. It happens,” he said, shrugging off the episode as just another quirky Flushing Meadows story.
The rest of his afternoon was far more routine: controlled aggression, efficient serving, and a quick exit from a day that was anything but straightforward for many of his colleagues.
De Minaur adapts, Jodar routed
Few players felt the chaos of the schedule more than Alex de Minaur. The No. 6 seed from Australia saw his first-round match shifted twice from its original court before he finally stepped onto Court 11 on Wednesday to begin his US Open.
Once he did, he wasted no time.
De Minaur dismantled Italy’s Andrea Guerrieri 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, a clean, clinical performance that cut through the noise of delays and relocations.
“It's been a couple tough days,” he admitted. “But I mean, these tournaments, it's all about adapting and that's the name of the game. There's too much to play for to let something like this affect you.”
On another court, the conditions and the wait seemed to swallow a teenager who had arrived in New York with momentum. No. 12 seed Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old from Spain coming off a strong summer, was hammered 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 by China’s Yunchaokete Bu when their rain-hit first-round match finally reached its conclusion.
“I knew it wasn't going to be easy because I was waiting a lot yesterday and today as well, but it is what it is,” Jodar said. “We cannot control the rain, so it's difficult for both players.”
Bu handled it. Jodar didn’t. On a day dictated by the weather, that was the difference.
Michelsen stuns Nakashima
As the schedule squeezed and the night session loomed, one of the standout results came from an all-American clash.
Alex Michelsen took out No. 16 seed Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, a straight-sets upset that underlined the depth of American men’s tennis just as Shelton, Taylor Fritz and others try to muscle their way into the business end of the draw.
Michelsen’s win capped a day when the tournament finally got back on something resembling track. The first round is done. The draw is settling. The chaos, for now, has eased.
Shelton, already through and already hardened by two four-setters, looks right at home in the storm. The question now is simple: in a New York fortnight that keeps testing everyone, how far can his appetite for the fight take him?
