American Ben Shelton outduels defending champ Alcaraz in latest-ever U.S. Open finish

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Cite

Hodge, M. (2026, September 9). American Ben Shelton outduels defending champ Alcaraz in latest-ever U.S. Open finish. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/tennis/ben-shelton-carlos-alcaraz-latest-ever-us-open-quarter-final-rcna596746

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

NBC News · collected 2026-09-09 · by Mark Hodge

Quick Summary

Ben Shelton, an American tennis player, defeated defending U.S. Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match that finished at 3:33 a.m., making it the latest finish in the tournament's history. The match lasted 4 hours and 28 minutes, with Shelton winning after a final set tiebreaker. Alcaraz had been on an 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments before the loss. Shelton will face fellow American Francis Tiafoe in the semifinals, ensuring that an American will be in the final for the first time since 2003.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-09, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Tommy Paul of the US had a chance to get revenge against Carlos Alcaraz in their quarterfinal match at the US Open. However, Alcaraz, who has been out for four months with a wrist injury, dominated Paul in straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-4). This victory extends Alcaraz's winning streak to 18 and keeps him on track for back-to-back titles at the US Open. Alcaraz also becomes one win away from improving his record against American players at Grand Slams to 13-0. Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked player, also advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Taylor Townsend in straight sets (6-4, 6-3).

Written for “US Open Tennis Quarterfinals” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 19 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 US Open Tennis Quarterfinals
Sports · 20 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBS News · 0.92 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 17 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on the exact same match between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open, with identical details about the match duration, score, and outcome.”
CBC News · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 33 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on the same U.S. Open match between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz that ended at 3:33 a.m., with Shelton winning in five sets.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 30 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe the US Open tennis match between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz, with Article A describing their third-round win by Alcaraz and Article B describing Shelton's fifth-set victory over Alcaraz in the later stages of the tournament”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 18 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Carlos Alcaraz's loss to Ben Shelton at the US Open, with the same players and outcome.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 26 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the US Open quarterfinal match between Ben Shelton and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, which Shelton won in a five-set thriller”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 41 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles report on the same US Open match between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz that took place on September 9, 2026”
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 43 📰 publisher trust 70
“Both articles describe the exact same match between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz, including the score, time of finish, and outcome.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 9% hedged 1 of 11 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles report on Ben Shelton's five-set victory over Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open, taking place on September 9, 2026, with a finish time of 3:33 a.m. and details matching exactly.”
TIME
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 2 of 49 📰 publisher trust 59
“The articles describe different stages of the U.S. Open tournament; Article A covers Ben Shelton's match against Carlos Alcaraz, while Article B discusses Shelton's upcoming final match against Alexander Zverev.”
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 21 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes Alcaraz's victory over Tommy Paul to reach quarterfinals, while Article B describes Ben Shelton's later victory over Alcaraz in a five-set match that ended at 3:33 AM”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
2 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
95/100
NBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
20
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

NBC News · 1719 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Mark Hodge
2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 An unidentified projectile struck Saudi Arabia’s main international airport Sunday, injuring people a day after a deadly missile attack at the same site raised questions about whether the United States would join another conflict in the region.
2026-10-11 · assertive framing · Here’s the biggest news you missed this weekend
🔮 The five-set victory takes Shelton to the semifinals, where he will face fellow American Francis Tiafoe. That means there is guaranteed to be an American in Sunday’s final, hoping to end a drought that has seen no U.S. men’s player win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in New York in 2003.
Also by Mark Hodge
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

American Grand Slam New York U.S. the U.S. Open

Subjects

Shelton PERSON · 9× Alcaraz PERSON · 7× American NORP · 5× New York GPE · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× Andy Roddick PERSON · 1× Ben Shelton PERSON · 1× Carlos Alcaraz PERSON · 1× Francis Tiafoe PERSON · 1× Jannik Sinner PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The five-set victory takes Shelton to the semifinals, where he will face fellow American Francis Tiafoe. That means there is guaranteed to be an American in Sunday’s final, hoping to end a drought that has seen no U.S. men’s player win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in New York in 2003.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-09
🔮 The five-set victory takes Shelton to the semifinals, where he will face fellow American Francis Tiafoe. That means there is guaranteed to be an American in Sunday’s final, hoping to end a drought that has seen no U.S. men’s player win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in New York in 2003.

Claims (27 extracted, 2 hedged)

There’s leaving it late, and then there’s what Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz just served up at the U.S. Open. asserted
Shelton → leave → Open
The American star ultimately outdueled the defending champion in the latest ever finish at the tournament, a thriller that didn’t finish until 3:33 a.m. in front of a raucous New York crowd. asserted
that → outduele → crowd
The five-set victory takes Shelton to the semifinals, where he will face fellow American Francis Tiafoe. That means there is guaranteed to be an American in Sunday’s final, hoping to end a drought that has seen no U.S. men’s player win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in New York in 2003. asserted
player → take → 2003
Shelton, the No. 8 seed, ended Alcaraz’ 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments in a clash that lasted 4 hours, 28 minutes. asserted
that → end → hours
At one point the Spaniard could be seen vomiting into a towel. uncertain
Spaniard → see → towel
The grueling quarterfinal was played under the lights after a day of marathon contests at Flushing Meadows. asserted
quarterfinal → play → Meadows
The highlight-filled match swung back and forth, with Shelton winning the second and third sets after losing the first on a tie break. asserted
Shelton → fill → break
No. 2 seed Alcaraz, who missed most of the season with a wrist injury, won the fourth set 6-1 to set up a grueling final set. asserted
who → miss → set
The pair traded blows but ultimately couldn’t be separated until the final set tiebreaker, which Shelton won 10-7. asserted
Shelton → trade → which
The epic now stands as the latest finish in the history of a tournament increasingly known for its overnight duels. asserted
epic → stand → duels
That honor had previously been held by another Alcaraz match, against his rival at the top of the sport Jannik Sinner, which finished at 2:50 a.m in the 2022 quarterfinals. asserted
which → hold → quarterfinals
That victory helped Alcaraz, then 19, on the way to his first U.S. Open title. asserted
victory → help → title
He’ll now set his sights on regaining the form that made him the sport’s leading light. asserted
him → set → form
Three of Tuesday’s four singles quarterfinal matches went to match tiebreakers, the day starting with Aryna Sabalenka edging Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova to keep alive her hopes of a third straight U.S. title. asserted
Sabalenka → go → title
Tiafoe then outlasted fellow American Alex Michelsen, staging repeated comebacks to set up the semifinal with Shelton. asserted
Tiafoe → outlast → Shelton
Thousands of fans stayed to the gripping end, with both Shelton and the popular showman Alcaraz enjoying loud support in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “It’s incredible,” Shelton said. asserted
Shelton → stay → Stadium
“I always say that this is the greatest sports city in the world, I say that this is the greatest stadium in the world. asserted
this → say → world
I’m just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don’t have to be at work at 6 a.m. in three hours.” asserted
friend → hop → hours
Alcaraz said he could “leave the court happy,” and the seven-time Grand Slam champion offered praise for his American opponent. uncertain
champion → say → opponent
“I leave the court with a smile. asserted
I → leave → smile
I am proud of myself, how I fought,” he said. asserted
he → fight → myself
“Shelton played a very complete, very mature match,” Alcaraz added in Spanish. asserted
Alcaraz → play → Spanish
“He knew exactly what to do at every moment. asserted
He → know → moment
And, physically, he’s a beast. asserted
he → ’ → ?
It seemed like he had no weaknesses whatsoever.” asserted
he → seem → weaknesses
Shelton summed up the evening. asserted
Shelton → sum → evening
“It was a war,” he said. asserted
he → say → ?
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