Ben Shelton faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the U.S. Open round of 16
Ben Shelton is in the round of 16 at the 2026 U.S. Open and was facing Stefanos Tsitsipas in the night session on Sunday. The latest available reporting does not establish the match’s final result, but live coverage reported Shelton taking the first set after breaking Tsitsipas.
Ben Shelton faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the U.S. Open round of 16
The matchup followed Shelton’s four-set victory over Denis Shapovalov in the third round. He won 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a match that began Friday and finished shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, according to The New York Times’ profile of Shelton.
The match against Tsitsipas was part of the U.S. Open’s Sunday night session in Flushing Meadows, New York. Live coverage from The New York Times described Shelton as making a fast start, with his serve, returns and net play troubling his opponent. Shelton broke to take the opening set, using a forehand drop shot, a down-the-line winner and a long return to complete the set.
Tsitsipas then recovered enough to hold serve in the next games reported by the live blog, leaving the match in progress at that stage. No final score or winner is established in the available coverage.
How Shelton reached the fourth round
Shelton’s third-round win over Shapovalov was his latest advancement at a tournament where he entered as a title contender. The match was uneven early, with both players missing opportunities and surrendering leads in the opening sets, before Shelton moved ahead in the third and fourth sets. The New York Times reported that the long night came after the start was delayed by a three-hour doubles match involving Serena and Venus Williams.
The victory also continued Shelton’s run after a difficult first-round defeat at Wimbledon. There, he led Otto Virtanen by two sets to one and held an 8-5 advantage in the fifth-set tiebreak before losing 11-9. Shelton later identified mental lapses, below-par returning and poor point construction on break points as important problems in that match, according to the same New York Times report.
The bigger question around his game
Shelton, 23, has won four titles this season, the most in a single year of his career, but he has also suffered early exits at two of the first three Grand Slam tournaments. His father, Bryan Shelton, is his coach and a former ATP Tour player, and the report described their approach as focused on his long-term development.
Shelton has acknowledged that his natural strengths have not yet made his game as complete as that of the leading players. He described himself as a “raw talent” who has many developing tools but is not yet as refined as players in the top 10, in remarks quoted by The New York Times.
For now, the confirmed position is that Shelton advanced to the U.S. Open round of 16, took the first set against Tsitsipas in the latest live account, and still had an unresolved match when that reporting ended.