Shelton beats Alcaraz at 3.33am in New York epic

BREAKING: Ben Shelton stuns defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set epic that ended at 3.33am, the latest-ever finish to a US Open match, to reach the semi-finals where he'll face Frances Tiafoe.

3.33am in New York, and Ben Shelton just knocked out the defending champion.

He beat Carlos Alcaraz in five sets, four hours and 28 minutes, the latest finish in US Open history. And look at him here. The man was 0 and 17 against top-three players before tonight. Zero and seventeen. Then he goes and wins the biggest match of his life on a ten-point tie-break, sealing it with a 146 mile an hour serve that Alcaraz simply couldn't touch.

Credit to Alcaraz too. First tournament back after four months out with a wrist injury, and he was vomiting before the final set. He still dragged it to a decider.

Shelton now faces Frances Tiafoe in an all-American semi-final, which guarantees a home player in Sunday's final. No American man has won a major since Andy Roddick in 2003. Twenty-three years of waiting, and it ends this week either way.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.