Shelton sends Alcaraz home as the US Open stays up until 3:33 a.m.

Anyone who decided to watch just one more game had a very long night. Ben Shelton beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a US Open quarterfinal that finished at 3:33 a.m. in New York on September 9.

The American won 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7), surviving four hours and 28 minutes of swings in momentum. EFE's match report confirmed the result and the end of Alcaraz's title defence. This was a quarterfinal, meaning Shelton still needs two more wins to lift the trophy.

A match that kept changing its mind

Alcaraz took the opening set in a tiebreak. Shelton then won the next two sets, putting himself one set away from victory. The score looked promising for the home player. Then Alcaraz won the fourth set 6-1, and suddenly the entire evening was back on the line.

That is what made this such a demanding contest. Winning a comfortable set did not buy either player a comfortable finish. They had to start again, with tired legs and the possibility that one loose service game could undo hours of work.

The deciding set reached another tiebreak. Shelton finally ended it with a 146 mph ace, according to the Roland-Garros tournament site's report. After all that running, the last point gave Alcaraz no rally to work with.

A breakthrough beyond the score

The same report recorded the finish as the latest in US Open history. It also marked Shelton's first victory over a player ranked in the world's top three, after 17 previous defeats against that group. One result cannot promise a title, but it can remove a very stubborn question mark.

The US Open's own account described the five-set victory as the end of the champion's defence. For a home crowd, that meant the tournament had both a major upset and an American still chasing the final.

For casual viewers, the appeal was easy to understand. You did not need to recognise every type of spin to follow the tension. One player went ahead, the other fought back, and neither could escape the pressure of the last few points.

There is also a difference between watching a short highlight and following a match like this. A clip captures the finish. The full score shows how often the winner had to recover before he could get there.

Shelton now moves into the semifinals. The celebrations are deserved, but so is some sleep. A famous quarterfinal win becomes much more valuable if there is enough energy left to make it count in the next round.