The men’s singles semifinals are set for Friday, as is the men’s doubles championship match.
The men’s semifinals feature three US Open champions, and a 20-year-old American making his Major semifinal debut. The last two winners of this event will face off, as 2022 champ Carlos Alcaraz plays 2021 champ Daniil Medvedev. And three-time champion Novak Djokovic takes on assertive newcomer Ben Shelton.
And in the men’s doubles championship match, it’s Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden (6) vs. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (3). This is a second Major final in men’s doubles for 43-year-old Bopanna, who was a runner-up at this same event 13 years ago. Ebden teamed with Max Purcell to win the gentlemen’s doubles title last year at Wimbledon. Ram and Salisbury are two-time defending champions, and if they win, they would become the first men’s doubles team to three-peat at this tournament in 109 years.
Ben Shelton vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Not Before 3:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
“I know that they want to get a scalp, they want to win… but it ain’t happening, still.”
That’s what Djokovic said two months ago on Centre Court after his quarterfinal victory at Wimbledon, regarding the younger generation of players trying to take his spot atop the sport. Novak thrives on fighting them off, and has made a career out of beating the belief out of them. But will the powerful and confident Shelton benefit from never having played Djokovic, and never having lost to him?
On Tuesday night, Ben displayed just how strong his self-belief is, and just how uncompromising he’s willing be in the critical moments of big matches. After splitting the first two sets with fellow American Frances Tiafoe, Shelton grabbed the lead in the third-set tiebreak, before double faulting his lead away, going for two overly-aggressive second serves. Yet when facing set point, he still pummeled a forehand return right into the corner of the court at 105 mph. Ben claimed that tiebreak, seemingly breaking Frances’s spirit, and easily took the fourth set and the match. That’s the kind of power and mentality can threaten Djokovic, and Shelton’s lack of scare tissue from previous losses to the all-time great is an advantage he has over many other of Novak’s recent victims in the latter stages of Majors.
Novak is the only male player to reach every Slam semifinal this season, and he’s 3-0 thus far, with victories over Tommy Paul, Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner. He’s is 35-11 lifetime in Major semis, and astoundingly has claimed 21 of his last 22, and his last 11 in a row dating back to the 2019 French Open.
Within the past decade, Djokovic has only lost two Major semifinals, and those two losses came under extreme weather conditions: an incredibly hot and humid day nine years ago in New York when he lost to Kei Nishikori, and an extremely windy day four years ago in Paris when he lost to Dominic Thiem. And with the recent heat in New York forecasted to subside on Friday, Novak is a considerable favorite to achieve his 36th Major final, extending his Open Era record in men’s singles. It wlll be incredibly difficult for Shelton to maintain a high-enough level to oust Djokovic and his exhausting all-court abilities.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Daniil Medvedev (3) – Not Before 7:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
This should be an incredibly compelling contest between the two winningest ATP players of 2023. Alcaraz is 58-6, with six titles, including his second Major at Wimbledon. Medvedev is 54-11, with five titles.
For Daniil, this is a second Major semifinal of the year, and his seventh overall. He is 4-2 in this round, though is his last Slam semi two months ago at Wimbledon, he lost to Alcaraz in straight sets. All of Medvedev’s previous wins at this stage of a Slam have occurred on hard courts.
Alcaraz has now advanced to the semifinals in his last four Major appearances, and he is 2-1 in this round. He’s dropped only one set so far this fortnight, to Dan Evans in the third round. Medvedev has dropped two sets, both to Australians (O’Connell, de Minaur).
Carlitos leads their head-to-head 2-1, and has taken their last two encounters. That includes the aforementioned Wimbledon semifinal from this past July, as well as the final of Indian Wells six months ago, though it’s worth noting Daniil was completely drained for that contest after winning 19 consecutive matches in the span of five weeks. Medvedev’s victory came two years ago at Wimbledon, but that was before Alcaraz rose to the top of the sport.
Medvedev definitely peaked between February and May of this season, and hasn’t won a title or reached a final since. He arrived in New York with little form, going just 3-2 on North American hard courts. However, he has steadily increased his level at this tournament has progressed, and has spoken openly regarding how pleased he is with the way the US Open courts are playing this year. And he’ll be relieved to find cooler temperatures for this semifinal than his sweltering quarterfinal on Wednesday.
It’s important to remember this is the first time Carlitos has defended a Major title in his young career. And no man has defended this title in 15 years, when Roger Federer won his fifth in a row back in 2008. Plus, Alcaraz has been sporting tape on his upper left leg this week, so he is nursing an injury to at least some degree.
After the epic Wimbledon final in July, and the equally-epic Cincinnati final in August, the tennis world has been hyper-focused on the potential of a Djokovic/Alcaraz rubber match in New York. But I don’t see that happening. As dynamic as Carlitos’ game is, Daniil defends on this surface better than anyone not named Djokovic, and can draw more errors out of Alcaraz than any player the Spaniard has faced to this stage. And in a match that will likely extend to four or five grueling sets, the extent of Carlitos’ injury will be revealed.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
