Cleaners Seen Mopping During Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton’s Late-Night US Open Battle

Carlos Alcaraz‘s title defense ended in the early hours of Wednesday (September 9). It was home favorite Ben Shelton who upset him with a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10/7), securing a win over the Spaniard after three consecutive defeats.

Alcaraz was chasing the eighth Grand Slam title of his career and his second one of the season after his Australian Open win. En route to the quarterfinals, he had lost just one set, against Jaime Faria, in the second round.

The US Open was his first tournament since the Barcelona Open, during which he injured his wrist and stayed on the sidelines for four months. Alcaraz struggled physically during that clash with Shelton as he was seen vomiting into a towel.

    
The match ended after four hours and 28 minutes, at 3:33 am, also the latest finish for a match at this Major. It was so late that the late-shift workers had already started cleaning inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Renowned journalist Ben Rothenberg shared a clip of the same on X.

Y’all it is so late here that the late shift cleaners have already started mopping inside Ashe as this fifth set is underway.

The U.S. Open is…something. pic.twitter.com/IM4WPo02hc

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 9, 2026

Martina Navratilova thinks matches ending late at night are not sustainable, saying tennis is the only sports that let this happen. This is because matches only end when a player wins. Only Wimbledon doesn’t allow this, as they have an 11 pm curfew, suspending matches if they don’t end at that aforementioned time.

Because the marathon matches ran late into the night, Shelton asked investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley to give his sister, Emma Shelton, an off day, as she had to be at work three hours later. But now, all Shelton will be focusing on is his rest and recovery because he will be facing compatriot Frances Tiafoe in his career’s third Grand Slam semifinal on September 11.

Tiafoe reached the third Grand Slam semifinal of his career after battling past compatriot Alex Michelsen. Shelton holds a 3-1 head-to-head lead over the 28-year-old and, in fact, will meet him for the third time at Flushing Meadows, after their clash in 2023 (Shelton won) and 2024 (Tiafoe won).

Carlos Alcaraz is happy despite his defeat to Ben Shelton

No man since Roger Federer‘s win in 2008 has defended the title in the New York Major. Carlos Alcaraz‘s exit ensured that a player who has never lifted this title will emerge victorious on Sunday. Alcaraz, at the press conference after his exit, said that despite his defeat, he was happy and proud of how he played.

Well, as I said before the tournament began, my expectation was to go there, compete, play in these kinds of matches, for me, being healthy. So, it was close. It was close. So, I’m just a little bit disappointed about not getting the win, but I’m just happy. I’m just proud of myself, about how I fought.

The only player left in the draw who has won a Grand Slam title is Alexander Zverev, who ended his Major title drought by overcoming Flavio Cobolli in this year’s French Open final. Zverev then reached the Wimbledon final but missed completing the Channel Slam, losing to Jannik Sinner. The Italian ace, also last year’s US Open runner-up, skipped the event this time due to his knee injury.

After the third set, physically I was really tired, but I found a way to push myself up and physically give extra. In the fifth set, I just started to feel better and better. But I was playing against someone that is a beast.

Carlos Alcaraz added

As Shelton and Tiafoe will face in the semifinals, an American will reach a Grand Slam final for the second time since Andy Roddick‘s win at the 2003 US Open. Taylor Fritz failed to end the American men’s Grand Slam drought when he lost to Sinner at the 2024 US Open.

Also read: Tennis Australia CEO Andrew Abdo Hints at Ditching Best-of-Five Sets in Grand Slams: “We Need to Explore”