Shelton ends Alcaraz streak in US Open quarter-final finishing at 3:33 a.m.

Ben Shelton defeated reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set US Open quarter-final that ended at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday, completing a match that lasted about 4½ hours.

Shelton won 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7), ending Alcaraz’s 18-match Grand Slam winning streak. He sealed the deciding-set tiebreak with a reported 146-mph ace.

The result sets up an all-American semi-final against Frances Tiafoe and guarantees an American player a place in Sunday’s final. The United States is seeking its first men’s major champion since Andy Roddick won the 2003 US Open.

The finish also intensified scrutiny of the tournament schedule. Yahoo Sports and the Associated Press reported that the US Open had recorded three finishes after 2 a.m. in its first six days, alongside two other matches that ended after 1 a.m.

Shelton’s own second-round match against Denis Shapovalov finished at 2:07 a.m. Earlier, Venus Williams began a match at 12:13 a.m. after Novak Djokovic’s first-round match lasted 4 hours and 36 minutes. The quarter-final reportedly ended with Arthur Ashe Stadium about one-third full.