Ben Shelton reaches his first Grand Slam final, with a tight-knit tennis family behind him
American Ben Shelton has reached his first Grand Slam final after a hard-fought US Open semifinal win over Frances Tiafoe. He will face Alexander Zverev on Sunday, who is playing in his third consecutive Grand Slam final this year.
The road to the final
Ben Shelton, 23, battled past fellow American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in the US Open 2026 semifinal, according to Puntodebreak. Shelton dropped the opening set but sharpened his serve and baseline game as the match progressed. The turning point came in the third set, during a 13-minute game in which Tiafoe lost his composure, after which momentum steadily shifted in Shelton's favor. In the fourth set, despite early nerves, the American held his advantage through to victory.
During the tournament, Shelton produced the fastest serve of the entire US Open, clocked at 158 miles per hour (254 km/h), Puntodebreak reports; he also owns the five fastest serves recorded at the event. On his way to the semifinal, Shelton had also eliminated Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match.
In the other semifinal, Alexander Zverev beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) to reach his third straight Grand Slam final this year, as reported by The Guardian. Afterward, the German joked that he hopes the "American dream" won't come true on Sunday.
A shot at history
Should Shelton win on Sunday, he would become the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick's US Open triumph in 2003 - 23 years ago, according to Puntodebreak.
The family behind the run
According to Town & Country, Shelton's rise has been built around a close-knit tennis family. His father, Bryan Shelton, is a former professional player who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 55 and won two ATP titles in Newport; he later became the only coach in history to win NCAA Division I titles with both a men's team (Florida, 2021) and a women's team (Georgia Tech, 2007), and he has coached his son full-time since stepping down from Florida in June 2023. Ben's mother, Lisa Shelton, comes from a tennis family herself - her late brother, Todd Witsken, was a professional player who reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 before dying of brain cancer at age 34. Ben's older sister, Emma, played college tennis and now works in investment management at Morgan Stanley in New York. His girlfriend is soccer player Trinity Rodman, a forward for the Washington Spirit and the U.S. national team, a 2024 Olympic gold medalist, and, per the outlet, the highest-paid woman in soccer worldwide with a contract exceeding $2 million a year.
