As tennis fans rev up for an all-American quarterfinal smackdown between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton on Tuesday, the two American 20-somethings took a few quick jabs at each other right after winning their fourth-round matches at the 2023 US Open.
In separate press conferences, it was as if they were speaking to each other through the walls. By interweaving their transcripts, this is how it would have sounded if the 6-foot-2, No. 10 seed “Big Foe” Tiafoe were really eye-to-eye with the 6-foot-4, lefty “Big Ben” Shelton.
Frances Tiafoe: "Ben has wanted to play me at the Open for a long time. He's an extremely loud player, hits the ball big, serves huge, [149 mph on Sunday against Tommy Paul] pretty much throwing his whole arm at that thing. He's so pumped up, comes to the net, great volleys, really athletic, fun to watch. He's yelling the loudest ‘C'mon!’ from the first point till the last. I'm just going to have to tame him down, try to be the vet and get the win."
Ben Shelton: "It's not like I'm in this craze all the time. Maybe I'll take the first three to five seconds after a point to be emotional, and then I try to shut it down, shut my mouth, breathe through my nose, get my heart rate down and be ready for the next point."
Frances Tiafoe: "I'm going to try to make him play a lot of balls, make it a really tough night for him. We'll see. I like playing lefties. Not gonna lay out all the anecdotes right here."
Ben Shelton: "I love those pressure moments, [saving break points]. That's when I hit my best serves, come up with my plus-one plays or the volleys. I'm not scared of them at all."
Frances Tiafoe [on whether he has any non-tactical plans for Ben]: "Wait and see, man. We only practiced a couple times. We'll see. We'll honestly see. No idea."
Ben Shelton: "There's a million things Frances can do to try to throw me off. I wouldn't be surprised if he does. I'm sure there [will] be a little chirp back and forth once or twice during the match. [He busts me about] everything. There's not a time that he walks by me in the locker room and doesn't say something [like], ‘Man, I'm looking way better than you in this sleeveless shirt. You got to work on those shoulders, buddy.’ We always have some banter. All friendly stuff."
Frances Tiafoe: "I think my outfit is much better, you know what I mean?"
Ben Shelton: "We're going to compete hard to make the semifinals of a Slam, that's for sure. I'm [also] 100% sure that we're still going to be friends. He's been like a brother to me since I've been on tour, a guy who told me that he believed in me from my first ATP tournament. Just a great guy off the court. But on the court a nightmare to deal with.
"He does so many things well. One of them [is] engaging the crowd. Frances is electric, must-see TV. You want to watch him play all the time. He kind of has that Carlos Alcaraz effect, especially in New York. This is where he really wants to show up."
Frances Tiafoe: "Arthur Ashe [Stadium], the biggest stadium we have, it's rocking, energy is insane, New York fans, everyone's drunk, Honey Deuce'd out. When you have 23,000 people come and watch two people go to war, it's surreal. I mean, [growing] up how I did, these fans taking me in, packing stadiums the times I've played… It's a cool ride, definitely brings out my best. [You feel the] vibration, for sure. It's 23,000 people [but] seems like a million in there. It’s the reason you do the hard yards, why you put all the work in. Hopefully it's a great battle. I hope people show their respect to Ben. He's killing it this week. Tommy [Paul] has been playing unbelievable tennis; to beat him is a huge win."
Ben Shelton: "This is what [the media] always talk about: who's going to be the next Grand Slam champion? I don't know. I'm not too worried. At least one American is going to be in the semifinals here."
Frances Tiafoe: "We're both going to go out, compete and put on a show. Two people of color playing in the quarterfinals, in Arthur Ashe? It's a monumental moment. In the bigger picture, I think tennis is going to win."
