A Farewell and a New Generation
This year's US Open began with a series of farewells to players planning to retire. The most emotional was Gaël Monfils's exit in Louis Armstrong Stadium against 20-year-old Learner Tien. Tien, an American playing before a home crowd, lost in straight sets, but Monfils held the audience in his hand for much of the match. Beyond his popularity with fans, Monfils's long goodbye revealed how deeply his peers, especially other Black players, respect him. Frances Tiafoe has said he grew up idolising Monfils. Arthur Fils regards him as an older brother. Naomi Osaka calls him simply the Goat.[S1]
While women's tennis has seen many successful Black players, Monfils and his retired compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were for years the leading Black men in the sport. In the same year that the 40-year-old Monfils will finally retire, a new generation of Black men's players has consolidated at the top. Last month, the Cincinnati Open featured two Black players in a Masters 1000 final for the first time, as 22-year-old Frenchman Fils overcame a year of injuries to beat Tiafoe and win his first big title. Fils's victory followed Ben Shelton's triumph at the Canadian Open in Montreal.[S1]
A Semifinal of Historic Proportions
Three weeks after the Fils-Tiafoe final, an even more significant match between two Black players arrives. Tiafoe and Shelton will face each other in the US Open semi-finals on Friday night. The winner will become the first Black man since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open, and the first African American man since MaliVai Washington, the 1996 Wimbledon finalist, to reach a Grand Slam final. The victor will then try to become the third Black man to win a Grand Slam, after Arthur Ashe and Yannick Noah. With last year's semi-finalist Félix Auger-Aliassime, there will be four Black players inside the ATP's top 11. Monfils, who never reached a major final, commands such status that this moment clearly underlines its importance for future generations of Black tennis players.[S1]
As Americans at the US Open, Tiafoe and Shelton have spent their careers being reminded how far American men's tennis has fallen since its decades of dominance, and especially since Andy Roddick's triumph at the 2003 US Open, the last time an American man won the title here. The significance of this moment is doubly important to them. Unlike in their previous runs, there are no multiple Grand Slam champions or all-time greats left in the draw, with the earlier semi-final featuring top seed Alexander Zverev against former top-10 player Karen Khachanov. All four can win this title.[S1]
A Rivalry Built for the Moment
The past few years in New York have been building to this match. It is just the fourth time Shelton has competed in the US Open main draw, yet this will be his third US Open meeting with Tiafoe. Shelton won their 2023 quarter-final before Tiafoe exacted revenge in a bruising five-set, third-round match in 2024. They have become great friends, which can be awkward on court for some, but they enjoy battling each other so much that their relationship only makes them more determined to produce their best. It helps that they are such creative, all-court players with great variation and explosive athleticism, which makes for a complementary match-up.[S1]
This is a third major semi-final for both players, but neither man has ever been so well prepared. Shelton just delivered the biggest win of his career over the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, and the 23-year-old continues to evolve into a genuine Grand Slam threat. Tiafoe, meanwhile, has been one of the revelations this year. The 28-year-old has spent the season determined to be more professional and focused each week than ever before, and his results are a direct consequence of his growing maturity. Their efforts have yielded by far the biggest opportunity of their careers, and the winner will be decided by which competitor is truly ready for the pressure and weight that accompanies such a massive opening.[S1]
