US Open: Epic battles and a mistimed roof closure mark Day 10

The US Open night sessions seem to be gradually blending in with the morning sessions of the following day.

While America’s Ben Shelton won’t mind the 3.33am ending on Wednesday morning, having pulled off a five-set win over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the latest-ever finish at the US Open ensured at least one American male player will reach the final after Frances Tiafoe’s five-set quarter-final epic earlier in the day. And then, there was the roof closing at the wrong time in the Aryna Sabalenka-Linda Noskova match.

Here are the talking points from Day 10…

 Winning a ‘most enjoyable war’

The big-hitting American Ben Shelton claimed his first career win over Carlos Alcaraz, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10/7), ending the Spaniard's hopes of retaining his title in his first tournament back after a four-month injury absence.

"That was a war, epic match, so physical," Shelton said. "Carlos is one of the greatest champions in our sport already at 23 years old.

"It's always fun being on the court against him. It's ridiculous some of the stuff he comes up with sometimes – the most enjoyable match that I've had in my career, for sure."

Alcaraz had gone from strength to strength though his first four matches, but Shelton posed his biggest test and finally proved too much.

Shelton, also 23, and pumped up by the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, reeled off nine straight games bridging the second and third sets to seize control, capitalising on Alcaraz's flagging serve and getting the better of him in rallies that left him winded.

And although Alcaraz stopped the rot in the fourth set, he couldn't maintain the pace and as his struggles on serve increased, Shelton roared away, finishing the fifth –set tie-breaker with a 146mph ace.

'I know how much it hurts’

After Frances Tiafoe completed an epic comeback from two sets down to secure a thrilling 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Alex Michelsen, the No 11 seed cut short his celebration to console the 22-year-old Michelsen.

After the win, Tiafoe jogged to the net to embrace Michelsen, who was competing in his first major quarter-final. The Americans shared a long embrace at the net, with an emotional Michelsen crying into his good friend's shoulder at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"As soon as I hugged him, I seen he was crying already," Tiafoe said after the match. "I was like, man, I know, I've been there. I've been there twice, to be fair, lost in five. Obviously I wasn't serving for the match to make the semis, but he's young, and he hasn't been there.

"We're super tight. We've always had a great relationship. We laugh and joke all the time. He's one of my good buddies on tour," Tiafoe said of Michelsen. "I know how much that hurts. I know how much he wanted it today. It's something that you dream about. I just told him, 'Bro, I know you're going to be here so many more times, and I'm going to be in a rocking chair when you do.”

Michelsen later shared his own account of the moment, saying, "I wasn't saying much. I was trying to keep it together, and I didn't do a good job of that. He was saying a lot of nice personal things," he explained. "He's a great guy for consoling me in that moment."

 Serve from out of the shadows

Linda Noskova was forced to serve while the sun was giving way to shadows in a key moment of her US Open loss to Aryna Sabalenka after a delay caused the roof above Arthur Ashe Stadium to not finish adjusting in time.

The court was almost entirely covered by sun when Noskova began to serve with Sabalenka holding a 5-4 lead in the third set of their quarter-final match. By the time she hit her first ball, the shadow line had nearly reached the middle of the court. After Noskova won that point, the court was nearly completely shaded by the time the next one began.

"I did notice the roof closing right after the point, although it started closing even before the point, so it was weird," Noskova said. "No one even told us about it, I guess. We didn't expect it at all.

"At the same time, I knew that the tournament wanted to keep us in the shade, and not have us play on the light throughout the whole match. But at the same time, it was, like, a crucial point of the match, so I don't know why they started moving it so late."

Because the roof was not being fully closed, only enough to shade the court, it should have been completed during the changeover before Noskova began serving. It did not because of a delayed start.

A full roof closure takes about six minutes, so play would be halted.

Noskova said following Sabalenka's 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory that she hadn't been bothered by the shadows.

"Well, it was fine the way it was," the Wimbledon champion said. "I feel like maybe in the very beginning it was more tough than as the match went on, but I don't know. Didn't really make a big difference for me if we were playing in shade or not."