Ben Shelton beats Frances Tiafoe to advance to US Open final

Ben Shelton advanced to his first Grand Slam final Friday, defeating fellow American Frances Tiafoe in four sets at the US Open.

The eighth seed won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 and will face top seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final.

Shelton, 23, became the first Black American man to reach a US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972, and the first to reach a Grand Slam final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996.

He is also bidding to become the first American man to win a major singles title since Andy Roddick captured the US Open in 2003.

"I'm going for it here, and I'm going to leave it all on the court," said Shelton. "I hope you guys come and back me. Let's do it for the USA."

Shelton recovered after dropping the opening set, using his powerful serve to take control of the match. He finished with 20 aces and broke Tiafoe late in the third set after a lengthy final game.

Tiafoe, who was appearing in his third US Open semifinal, was unable to force a deciding set.

Zverev defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) to reach the final earlier.

The German holds a 5-0 career record against Shelton and has won their past 10 sets, though Sunday's match will be their first meeting at a Grand Slam.