Denis Shapovalov’s tennis match against Ben Shelton in the 2026 US Open ended Denis Shapovalov’s US Open run with a 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 win at Arthur Ashe Stadium early Saturday morning, finishing at 2:07 a.m. ET after three hours and 22 minutes.
The two left-handers traded tiebreaks in the opening sets, with Shapovalov answering Shelton’s first-set tiebreak win with one of his own in the second. Shelton then broke serve in both the third and fourth sets to close out the victory, extending his career record against Shapovalov to 5-0.
Shapovalov vs Ben Shelton: Fifth Meeting, Fifth Win
It’s the fifth meeting between the two, and the fifth win for Shelton. The No. 8 seed has now beaten Shapovalov in five sets at Wimbledon, by retirement in Washington, in straight sets in Shanghai, and in a third-set tiebreak in Dallas back in February.
That pattern continued Friday night in New York. Shelton advances to a US Open Round of 16 date with Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Jiri Lehecka in four sets to reach the fourth round for the first time in his career.
For Shapovalov, it’s a familiar ceiling. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native, unseeded coming into this tournament and ranked No. 48 on the ATP tour, had looked sharp through the first two rounds, needing just three sets to get past both Miomir Kecmanović and Luca Van Assche.
But a 0-5 head-to-head deficit against Shelton is a tough one to shake, and Friday’s match followed the shape of their previous four: tight, competitive, and ultimately decided by Shelton’s serve down the stretch.
What’s Next for Ben Shelton and Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov wasn’t the only Canadian to exit singles play on Day 6. Leylah Fernandez was beaten 6-1, 4-6, 3-6 by Jessica Pegula earlier on Friday, meaning both of Canada’s remaining singles hopes were gone within hours of each other.
Shelton, for his part, keeps rolling at a tournament where he has now reached the third round for the fourth time in five appearances, with his 2023 semifinal run still the high-water mark of his US Open career.
Whether he can go a step further this time may depend on how he handles Tsitsipas, who’s playing with newfound confidence after breaking through to his first career fourth round in New York.
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Krishanu Das is the founder and lead writer of Sports Dribble. With more than five years of experience in sports writing, he specializes in creating well-researched guides, sports rules, player rankings, tournament explainers, and match analysis across cricket, football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and many other sports.
Although he works as an accountant by profession, sports have always been his lifelong interest. That passion inspired him to build Sports Dribble, where he focuses on publishing accurate, easy-to-understand, and regularly updated content for sports fans around the world.
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