This time, the All-American showdown between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton is coming a little early.
Both men advanced to a third-round clash in the U.S. Open after cruising through the second round on a hot, sweaty Wednesday in Flushing.
It set up a rematch of last year’s classic quarterfinal, this time two rounds earlier.
“Yeah, I’m excited. These are the type of matches that I love, that I live for,” said Shelton. “Being able to do it a little bit earlier in this draw, it still feels the same. Still feels like a huge match and one that I’m really excited for.
“I know the people love him here, probably more than me. He’s electric here, and his crowds are electric here…We’re good friends. It’ll be a battle. It’ll be a war just like the last two times we’ve played. I’m more than excited to be out there with him again.”
Tiafoe isn’t just popular with the crowds in New York, but the stars here, as well.
Shelton beat Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, while Tiafoe was leading, 6-4, 6-1, 1-0, before Alexander Shevchenko was forced to retire.
Tiafoe wore a Jalen Brunson jersey beforehand, and celebrated with Mikal Bridges courtside afterward.
Tiafoe — who wore an Immanuel Quickley jersey last year, and a Kevin Durant one year before that — has gained widespread popularity even outside of tennis, and the all-U.S. showdown with Shelton on Friday is sure to be a must-see event.
“Obviously, he’s very much like me in how excited and energetic he is on the court, and has such a big game and big shots and serves big and gets the crowd going. He’s 20, 21 years old. He’s young, funny, cracks jokes, just about as immature as I am,” Tiafoe grinned. “We always have fun joking around and cracking jokes, for sure.
“Obviously, his serve (is great). He’s got one of the better serves on the tour, no question. Especially a lefty, he hits all the spots, changes pace quite well. It’s going to be tough but I’m super excited.”
As soon as he clinched the match, Tiafoe pointed at Bridges in the front row, imitated his signature bobblehead celebration and went over to receive congratulations.
“I’m friends with a lot of guys in the (NBA)…I have a lot of hoop celebrations. I did his celebration to him after the match and he was laughing,” said Tiafoe. “Yeah, it’s all just my love for hoop, and them just following me because someone of color playing tennis, that’s kind of the connection.
“It’s funny. I was actually trying to wear a Mikal Bridges because he was coming to the match and he texted me that he was coming to the match. But I’m just not a morning person, so I put it on and then I took it off to go practice…But yeah, Brunson, he’s the man here. He’s damn near bigger than Jay-Z.”
Tiafoe, who reached the semis two years ago in Flushing, was in control throughout.
He broke Shevchenko to seal the first set and took a 5-1 double-break lead in the second before taking that as well.
Shevchenko had to call for the trainer after the second set, and retired in the third.
Tiafoe has seemingly regained his momentum after hiring David Witt as coach.
He had been struggling at 15-15 through Wimbledon before skipping the Olympics.
Since Atlanta, when he brought on Witt — who’d coached Venus Williams, Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari — Tiafoe has gone 11-4, winning seven of his last eight.
Shelton, 21, drilled his Spanish foe in straight sets.
He’s got the hardest serve on the tour, but moved so well Wednesday he didn’t even need to dial it up to its dominating best.
Shelton’s fastest serve came on his last of the day, a 141 mph ace.
“It’s always a big opportunity for me and him whenever we play in a moment like this, or any other Americans or players,” said Shelton, who beat Tiafoe in last year’s quarterfinal to become the youngest American man to reach the US Open semis since 1992.
