Ben Shelton moved to within a set of the third round at the US Open on day four, building a 2-1 lead over Hubert Hurkacz after a tense third-set tiebreak on Arthur Ashe. Shelton was ahead 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, and had raced to 3-0 in the decider before the finish turned into a grip test.
That scoreline is why Shelton was the match people were looking for in New York. Described as the leading American hope in the men’s singles, he had already split the first two sets with Hurkacz and then had to survive a set that the Pole dragged into a tiebreak after Shelton had once led by a set and a break. By the time Shelton went 4-1 and then 5-2 ahead in the breaker, the pressure had shifted back toward Hurkacz, who had left him needing four set points at 6-2 after a shanked forehand.
Rain then took over the day. No more play was possible on the uncovered courts until at least 4pm New York time, or 9pm BST, leaving several matches in limbo and forcing changes elsewhere in the draw. The weather stopped Tomás Etcheverry and Jack Fearnley when Etcheverry was serving for a two-set lead, pushed Katie Boulter’s match with Karolina Muchova from Court 17 to Louis Armstrong, and left Alex de Minaur with an opening-set lead over Andrea Guerrieri and a 3-2 edge in the second.
The disruption also sent Fran Jones back to her first-round match with Magda Linette after that contest had been suspended the previous day with Jones leading 6-4. Elsewhere, Kostyuk reached round three after beating Stephens, but Shelton’s match remained the one with the most weight attached to it: the American was a set away from the third round, yet Hurkacz had already shown he could force him deep into the match. The unanswered part is not whether Shelton belonged in this round. It is whether he could close it out before the weather and the pressure both got a say.
