cnn
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Ben Shelton pulled off an upset against fellow American and world No. 10 Frances Tiafoe in four sets in the US Open quarterfinals early Wednesday morning.
In the first US Open quarterfinal match between two African-American men, Shelton, 20, defeated last year's runner-up 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 in New York .
Shelton, the youngest American to reach a US Open semi-final since 20-year-old Michael Chang did so in 1992, will face 23-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic on Friday.
“I feel like I left it all here tonight. Emotional battle,” Shelton said after the game. “Thank you all for staying so late. What an incredible atmosphere, and thank you for pushing me over the line.”
“Sometimes you have to turn your brain off, close your eyes and just swing,” Shelton said in the third-set tiebreaker. “Maybe there was a little bit of that, a set point down, but it ended up working out.”
With the victory, Shelton, the 2022 NCAA singles champion, will move from No. 47 to the top 20 in the world men's singles rankings.
Shelton was asked if he knew who he would face next.
“Yeah, he's won 23 of these or something like that,” Shelton said of Djokovic. “There is nothing better than that. The last two games have been tough. “I’ve been playing against Americans, but I hope they bring it to me in two nights.”
