Showdown set as Tiafoe, Shelton reach final
Houston got the finals matchup it wanted on the red clay at River Oaks Country Club on Sunday. Frances Tiafoe, the defending champion, and Ben Shelton, the No. 1 seed, also got the matchup they wanted.
Especially Tiafoe.
“I’m definitely looking for revenge,” he said, smiling.
The then-20-year-old Shelton formally announced himself as America’s next great men’s tennis hope when he took down Tiafoe in a wild four-set U.S. Open quarterfinal last September. Tiafoe, who had been an Open semifinalist himself the previous year, called the match “kinda ugly, with a lot of breaks, a lot of back and forth,” but the energy in Arthur Ashe Stadium was electric and it figures to be no less so Sunday, albeit on a smaller, less prestigious platform.
Tiafoe, who’s now 26, established himself as a huge fan favorite in winning the 2023 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship and Shelton, in his H-Town debut, has proven to be at least as popular with River Oaks’ standing-room-only crowds this spring. Theirs is arguably the most anticipated decisive Clay Courts showdown here since Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi squared off at Westside Tennis Club in 2003.
The old guy Agassi, 32, prevailed that afternoon, but the young guy Roddick, who was just 20 himself, would go on to win the U.S. Open, the last time an American man has claimed any of the major championships. Many believe Shelton will be the next, ending a historic drought. But first things first. He wants his first clay-court title here.
“It’s definitely growing on me,” Shelton said of the red dirt, on which he won for the third time this week Saturday, rallying past Argentina’s Tomás Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4. Tiafoe, who defeated Etcheverry in the final a year ago, had a somewhat easier time with the Italian Luciano Darderi in the second semifinal, prevailing 6-2, 7-6 (2).
But Tiafoe, the third seed, expects to have his hands full with Shelton, however motivated he may be to settle the score.
“It’s gonna be tough,” he said. “Ben’s a great player. I want to go out and play a better match than I did today. I need to be efficient on my service games. That’s going to be the match.”
Tiafoe has been way more than merely efficient serving in Houston over his 7-0 run at River Oaks, suffering only two breaks in 77 service games. He went 10for-10 against the 22-year Darderi, who seized his first ATP Tour title at the Córdoba Open in Spain in early February and had won 11 clay-court matches this season, more than any other player in the Houston field.
“I was just trying to get the W,” Tiafoe said. “I competed really well today. It was tough in that second set with so many break chances early, and love-30s. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. He played much better in the second set. I’ve been serving great. It got me out of trouble today when I needed it. It was a great atmosphere out there. It’s great to be back. Everyone’s treating me with so much love.”
Shelton, in turn, advanced to his second career final — he won the ATP Tokyo tournament last fall in his first — because he made himself the dominant player at the net, keeping Etcheverry largely pinned to the baseline and negating the 24-year-old Argentine’s advantage as the far more experienced clay-court player.
“When I really hit my stride, I was taking those mid-court balls and transitioning really well to the net,” Shelton said. “That was a big key for me. Playing in the wind you’ve got to keep your feet moving. You can’t expect to slap winners from the baseline. You’ve got to finish at the net or wait for your opponent to miss. If I’d done that consistently through the whole match, I don’t think I would have gotten broken in the third set.”
He also served impressively save for a couple of conspicuous glitches, the worst of which occurred during the first-set tiebreaker when he threw in his only two double faults of the day. This after he had surrendered but two points against his serve in six games.
“It was definitely a tough tiebreaker,” Shelton said. “I had a similar blip in a tiebreaker at Indian Wells, the first set against (world No. 2 Jannik) Sinner. I think I missed four forehands in that one. In this one, I missed three forehands, had a backhand unforced (error) and the two double faults, which is not ideal. That was tough to swallow as well as I’d been serving. I just froze up a little bit and got a little tentative.”
After Shelton broke to start the decisive third set, Etcheverry answered with one of his own — at love, no less — then served a love game. But that rough patch wasn’t as bad as it may have looked, Shelton contended, because of the gusty breeze blowing into his face.
“I knew it was going to be easy to hold or break with the wind on one side but more difficult on the other,” he said. “When I gave up that break I knew I’d have a good chance to get it back. The toughest part today was holding the last two times on the side into the wind. I did a great job of serve and volley there and not waiting around at the baseline when he’s playing downhill with the wind. He played a great match. He’s a tough player to face on clay. He plays the percentages and hits the ball at a speed where he can get to the next spot.”
After scoring a love break himself to go up 3-2, Shelton had to save a break point in the next game, and he did it emphatically with his seventh ace. He would lose just one service point the rest of the way.
With a victory over Tiafoe on Sunday, Shelton can complete the first fatherson double at River Oaks. His dad, Bryan, who’s now his fulltime coach, won the River Oaks International exhibition tournament championship in 1992, a decade before Ben was born.
Waving toward where Bryan and other family members were sitting in the stands, Shelton said in his on-court interview, “Thank you guys for your support. I’ll try to make us 2-for-2.”