Third-round play headlines Day 5 of the 2024 US Open, highlighted by what figures to be an electrifying encore of last year’s US Open quarterfinals, as Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe face off on the great stage of Arthur Ashe Stadium. That heavyweight blockbuster is just one of the feature offerings on a day that also includes star turns from defending US Open champs Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic, as well as gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, men’s No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, three-time US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka and the top-ranked U.S. male, Taylor Fritz.
With a lineup like this one, you should probably get familiar with the edge of your seat.
Although two rounds earlier than their 2023 encounter, this Shelton-Tiafoe tussle figures to deliver the singular sort of sizzle more often associated with the latter rounds of a major. Last year’s battle, which ended in a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 Shelton triumph, was memorable for any number of reasons, not the least of which being that it was the first major quarterfinal between two Black men in the Open Era, played in a stadium named after an iconic Black champion who also was a champion of myriad social causes.
Shelton, whose quarterfinal win here last year made him, at age 20, the youngest American man in the US Open semifinals since Michael Chang in 1992, is now looking to become the first American man to reach the semis here in consecutive years since Andre Agassi in 2002-03. Now 21, the former NCAA singles champ while a Florida Gator plays a power game with remarkable precision. Through two rounds here, he’s won an impressive 87% of his first-serve points and has nailed 94 winners against just 44 unforced errors, winning both of his matches in straight sets.
The No. 13 seed won his second career title in April at the clay-court event in Houston, and comes to New York with a career-high ranking on the heels of a semifinal showing in Washington, D.C., and a run to the quarters in Cincinnati—both hard court events.
Tiafoe, ranked and seeded No. 20, is without a title in 2024; his best season showings are second-place finishes in Houston and Cincinnati. He’s been less-than-spectacular at the Slams this year, losing in the second round of both the Aussie Open and Roland Garros, and the third at Wimbledon. That said, the 26-year-old has raised his game during the hard-court summer stretch leading to New York, adding a semifinal showing in D.C. to his run to the Cincy final. Most certainly, his potent ground game plays well on the hard floors of Flushing; his 18-9 career mark here is his best at any of the Slams, and includes a defining win over second-seeded Rafael Nadal in the fourth round on his way to the semifinals in 2022—still his best-ever finish at a major.
Shelton has won both of the career meetings of these remarkable men, and no doubt knows he’ll need to bring his best to score the hat trick today. This will be a good one, contested by two men with the talent and tenacity to be great ones. It figures to be furious; the sort of heavyweight slugfest that usually has ropes around it. In a bruising four, Shelton is the last man standing. He’s on to Round 4.
Gauff, who captured her first career major title here last year, has twice reached a Slam semifinal this season—at both the Aussie and French Opens—but has yet to claim a second major crown. She’s had a solid season, winning her seventh career singles title in January at the hard-court Auckland event and reaching five semifinals, but finishing first has been elusive for 20-year-old American in 2024. But despite a so-so summer in which she lost in the third round of the Olympics and the hard-court Toronto event and was dismissed in her opening match in Cincinnati, the No. 3 seed has been the picture of perfection through two rounds here, dropping just six games in two matches, playing with the sort of poise and purpose that suggest a second-Saturday showing here is well within her reach.
Today, she faces off with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, a baseliner who was a semifinalist here in 2019 and owns 17 career singles titles—11 of those on hard courts. Svitolina, who turns 30 the week after this event, has reached at least the quarterfinals of every Slam, and owns a career-high ranking of No. 3. She’s now ranked No. 28. This year, Svitolina’s best Slam showing was a run to the quarters of Wimbledon, and her one final-round appearance was at Auckland—where she lost a tight three-setter to Gauff.
The two have split a pair of career meetings, with Svitolina winning in the second round of the 2021 Aussie Open. This is an intriguing one; certainly Gauff’s best test in the early going here. Svitolina certainly has the game to plant the third seed, but if Gauff can match her focus to her firepower, she ought to be able to claim the win. This one goes the distance and in a thrilling three, Gauff advances to the fourth round.
