On the men’s side, the 2023 US Open has gone spectacularly according to plan. On schedule like a Swiss train. In the semifinals are Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev—the top three seeds. All former US Open champions. Each either a current or former world No. 1.
And the possibility of a resumed rivalry between Alcaraz and Djokovic looms.
To paraphrase Jimmy Connors: This is what we paid for; this is what we want.
But then there’s that other guy, the one facing Djokovic on Friday afternoon: Ben Shelton. An interloper who has jumped aboard his own express train to the semis. Tennis insiders have certainly had their eyes on Big Ben, but even to them, his run has been a delightful surprise. Ranked No. 47, Shelton is playing in just his fifth major. Only last year, the 20-year-old toiled almost entirely on the Challenger tour.
The ebullient, baby-faced former Gator from the University of Florida was so inexperienced on tour that he had to apply for his first passport in January to play this global sport. And yet: On his very first trip outside of the United States, Shelton advanced to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
Maybe the guy’s not such a big surprise after all.
The unusual makeup of the men’s semifinals adds an element of the unknown to business as usual at the Open. We’ve seen Djokovic, Medvedev and even Alcaraz—the Spaniard who’s the same age as Shelton, but already No. 1 in the world—face off multiple times. The outlier, Shelton? Of the other three semifinalists, he’s only played Alcaraz before, and just once, mere weeks ago at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati.
You’re getting the picture. This is old hat for some. And very new territory for the American.
Yet it seems to all be going to plan for the 6-foot-4 youngster with the 149 mph serve—at least for Shelton himself.
“It's an advantage with my game style, playing someone who's never played me before,” Shelton said of facing Djokovic for the first time. “I think that I can bring some things to the table that maybe you don't see in your normal match that you play on the ATP Tour. So I'm definitely going to try to bring some things...that are different and hopefully disruptive on Friday.”
The American’s shocking run isn’t entirely unheard of at the majors. Over the years, there have been a handful of one-hit wonders, like pop stars who caught a beat in a bottle and raced up the charts, never to be heard from again. Tennis is lousy with one-shot fairytales; there could be a whole “Where Are They Now?” series unearthing the tennis equivalents of Vanilla Ice and his "Ice Ice Baby."
Take, for example, Vladimir Voltchkov. The 22-year-old qualifier, who watched the movie Gladiator four times in preparation for Wimbledon in 2000, ransacked his way to the semifinal, where he lost to eventual champion Pete Sampras. Andrei Medvedev (no relation to Daniil) was ranked No. 100, yet the Ukrainian beat Gustavo Kuerten and Pete Sampras and got all the way to the final of the French Open in 1999. The unseeded Argentine Gastón Gaudio won Roland Garros in 2004, despite being the only non-Top 10 seed of the last four men standing.
Those are the asterisks in tennis history. But there also have been budding superstars who seemed to bolt out of nowhere to stake their claim on the game and from that initial blast build long, winning careers.
Gustavo Kuerten was a lanky, 20-year-old Brazilian with curly surfer’s locks when he rode a wave through the French Open draw in 1997, ranked No. 66 in the world. He and his coach stayed at a two-star, $70-per-night hotel in Paris before Kuerten made the terre batteu home, beating two-time champion Sergi Bruguera in straight sets in the final. Kuerten would go on to hold the No. 1 ranking and add two more Slam titles (both also at Roland Garros) to his resume.
The 17-year-old Swede Mats Wilander was making his French Open debut in 1982 when he defeated fourth seed José Luís Clerc in the semifinal and another Argentine, four-time major winner and third seed Guillermo Vilas, in the final. It was the teen’s first ATP title, but Wilander would collect six more majors in his career.
Admittedly, Shelton had seemed like a work in progress, until perhaps one week ago. Sure, he was big, he was talented, he had that left-handed bomb of a service delivery. Many observers thought he had potential and could develop into a top player after some seasoning. But the ingredients have come together much more quickly than expected.
The US Open has seen its fair share of stunning surprises on the men’s side. In 2005, Robby Ginepri was unseeded and ranked just No. 46 when he sneaked into the last four. The other semifinalists were top seed and eventual champion Roger Federer, third-seeded (and former US Open winner) Lleyton Hewitt, and Andre Agassi, to whom Ginepri would fall in the semi in five sets. Ginepri became the first player in the Open Era to play four consecutive five-set matches at the US Open.
The following year, Mikhail Youzhny, ranked a middling No. 54, delighted the crowd with his military salutes and questionable habit of banging his forehead on his racquet strings and drawing blood. The 24-year-old laughed off how unknown he was, memorably teasing the press corps by asking “Who’s the Youzhny?” In his first time past the fourth round of a major, Youzhny upset second seed Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal but lost to 2003 champion Andy Roddick in the semis.
At the other end of the age and experience spectrum from Shelton is one of the most surprising and storied runs in tennis history: Jimmy Connors at the US Open in 1991. The 39-year-old Connors already had a legendary career under his belt when he shocked the tennis world by storming to the semifinals (where the other three men were No. 2 Stefan Edberg, No. 4 Jim Courier and No. 5 Ivan Lendl – who would all later join Connors in the Tennis Hall of Fame). Connors entered as a wildcard and produced two five-set wins to make the semis, including the quarterfinal classic over Aaron Krickstein that used to be a rain-day TV staple back before the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center got roofs.
Is Ben Shelton a one-hit wonder or a superstar-in-the-making? Stay tuned. Regardless, the youngster is already part of a great tennis tradition: upstart surprises on the game’s biggest stages.
And that’s also what fans come to see.
