Carlos Alcaraz took his U.S. Open exit with grace, paying tribute to Ben Shelton for the dramatic upset he pulled off over the World No. 1 and thanking the fans of New York for their support during his run.
The message came in the form of a social media post on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Shelton hadshocked the tennis world in the early morning hours, defeating Alcaraz in five sets to advance to the semifinals in Flushing Meadows.
“What a battle Ben!” Alcaraz wrote. “You deserve the win, I wish you the best for the rest of the tournament! I leave here happy with my level after such a long injury. Thank you for the energy NYC. Always a very special place!”
Alcaraz was looking to repeat as U.S. Open champion, but came into the Grand Slam not having played a competitive match since April, when he suffered a right wrist injury at the Barcelona Open.
He was rolling through the tournament before running into Shelton on Tuesday night and getting caught up in a four-hour, 28-minute slugfest at Arthur Ashe.
The Spaniard seemed to put a positive spin on his experience this year after the match as well, choosing to look at the positives from his time at the U.S. Open.
“My expectation was to go there, you know, compete, play in these kind of matches for me being healthy,” he said. “It was close. It was close. So I’m just not going to be disappointed about don’t getting the win at the end. You know, I’m just happy. I’m just proud about myself, about how I fought.
“You know, after the third set, physically I was really tired, but you know, I found a way to push myself up and, you know, physically giving extra. In the fifth set I just started to feel better and better, but you know, I was playing against one of the — he is a beast. Shelton is an unbelievable player, powerful. He just managed how to play really, really well in every situation, so credit to him.”
He added: “I leave the court happy. I leave the court with a smile, healthy, and this is what I needed.”
Shelton will go on to face Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals on Friday.
