Ben Shelton was made to sweat in the third round of the 2026 US Open on Friday night, a late-night affair that went four sets against Denis Shapovalov. Despite getting the win, the American had to face gamesmanship accusations from Shapovalov.
Shelton and Shapovalov treated fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium to a topsy-turvy battle that saw plenty of service breaks, alternating between high-quality tennis and some questionable decisions from both players. In the end, Shelton snatched the victory 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 to move on to the second week in New York.
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In the middle of the fourth set, however, Shapovalov accused his opponent of making ‘inconsistent’ grunts, which he felt were distracting to him. The Canadian made it clear that his issues were not with Shelton grunting in general, just that he varied the noise with every shot.
“I understand the grunt, but the grunt is coming different every shot. It’s inconsistent. I’m just saying, he should make it consistent, no?”
As Denis Shapovalov made his case to the chair umpire, he was treated to a loud ring of boos from Shelton’s home crowd. The umpire acknowledged Shapovalov’s complaint, but did not make any suggestions to Shelton afterwards.
Here is a video of the incident:
With the win on Friday, Ben Shelton has reached the second week at the US Open for the second time in his career. In 2023, he went all the way to the semifinals, his first time doing so at any Grand Slam.
Ben Shelton takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas next at US Open
Following his win over Denis Shapovalov, Ben Shelton will next take on former French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round of the 2026 US Open. Tsitsipas has been on a red-hot run at Flushing Meadows this week, taking down Arthur Fils and Jiri Lehecka to reach the second week in New York for the first time ever.
Should he beat Tsitsipas, Shelton will face a tough quarterfinal against either fellow American Tommy Paul or defending champ Carlos Alcaraz. Daniil Medvedev is the projected semifinal opponent as of now, while top seed and World No. 2 Alexander Zverev remains in contention to reach the final from the top half of the draw.
Edited by Shyam Kamal
