Novak Djokovic blitzes Ben Shelton to reach his 10th US Open final

Novak Djokovic is back in the US Open final on his return to New York after spiking young gun Ben Shelton – and then mocking the American in his post-match celebration. Djokovic is into a record-equalling 10th final after dumping the last American left, the unseeded Shelton, out of the tournament. 

The Serbian superstar missed last year after refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. But the three-time New York champion is now just one win away from a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title following his win. Shelton belatedly found his game in the tight third set and had a set point at 4-5 before forcing a tiebreak.

But Djokovic reimposed his earlier superiority to win his 16th out of his last 17 tiebreakers in Major to triumph in his record 47th Grand Slam semi-final. Shelton had celebrated reaching his first Major semi-final by miming a phone call with his hand and had great support under the roof of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

But Djokovic has only ever lost one Grand Slam match to a home player – the 2013 Wimbledon final against Andy Murray. And after taking his second match point after two hours and 41 minutes, Djokovic provocatively did the same telephone celebration – and then motioned to slam it down to show the call was over.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion said: “These are the kinds of occasions I still thrive on and they inspire me to get up in the morning to work as hard as the young guys. These are the kinds of atmosphere that we all love to play in.”

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The Australian and French Open champion also equalled Bill Tilden’s 94-year-old record to reach his 10th US Open final in his 100th match here. Djokovic has also now reached a ridiculous 36 Grand Slam finals in his 72 appearances at Majors.

Victory in Sunday’s final will also see the 36-year-old become the oldest winner of the singles title here in the Open era. By contrast, 20-year-old Sheldon was playing his first Grand Slam semi in his maiden year on tour. And although the home crowd cheered his every winner – and every Djokovic error – the old campaigner had too much big-match experience.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium roof was closed at the start of the match because of the threat of rain to create a great atmosphere even at the 3pm start. Shelton had sent down two 149mph serves earlier in the tournament and needed an explosive start to have a chance.

But he looked nervous in the biggest match of his life and made three unforced errors to be broken and go 2-3 down. Shelton saved four set points on his own at 2-5 but he gave up the fifth on the Djokovic serve with a forehand into the net – one of 15 unforced errors in the 34-minute first set. Shelton has a sledgehammer forehand and the crowd urged him to: “Go for the fastball” on his serve.

He smashed down a 143mph second serve in the first game of the second set as he felt the need for speed. But Djokovic, the best returner in the history of the sport, was the worst opponent he could face. He broke again in the fifth game when his pressure imposed on the Shelton serve saw him send down a double fault on break point.

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At 2-4, Djokovic broke again when Shelton scooped a short backhand wide before the world No.2 closed out the set with a service winner. The end appeared nigh when Djokovic broke for a fourth time in the first game of the third set with another forehand pass.

But Shelton created the biggest noise of the night when he broke the Djokovic serve for the first time after two hours to draw the set level at 4-4 and finally there was a real contest. The Serb needed to produce a 124mph on the line to save a set point at 4-5 before breaking to lead 6-5 with a backhand pass.

Serving for the match, Djokovic squandered a match point with a loose forehand and put a weak smash into the net to go into the tiebreak. But the Serb took his second match point after two hours and 41 minutes when Shelton slapped a forehand into the net.

Among all the stunning stats in his career, Djokovic now has a 12-match winning streak in Grand Slam semi-finals since losing to Dominic Thiem at the 2019 French Open. He will face Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev in the final on Sunday.

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