Does the Djoker dash the American dream?

After no American player has been able to win the men’s singles at the US Open since Andy Roddick (2004), the country’s hopes that at least one American would reach the final this year have been quite high recently. After all, in the lower half of the tournament tree, three of the four players in the quarterfinals were American. However, if Ben Shelton wins against Novak Djokovic, all three Americans would be out of the tournament.

While the Djoker gave former US Open boys’ singles winner Taylor Fritz no chance in a 3-0 quarter-final win, youngster Ben Shelton was a remarkably clear 3-1 winner over compatriot Frances Tiafoe. Now it’s up to the inexperienced 20-year-old to give the record-breaking Serbian, who is in his 47th Grand Slam semifinal, a leg up. Quite clearly, however, the forecast for Ben Shelton against Novak Djokovic is leaning towards the Djoker making the final.

It’s possible that the underdog from Atlanta can win a game or two with his youthful ease. In view of the tremendous dominance of Djoker, who in his five wins on the way to his 13th semifinal at the US Open (he has won nine matches and lost three so far) has recorded four straight 3-0 victories, the American shooting star, who as a left-hander can serve quite unpleasantly, will probably be shown his limits quite quickly.

As much as the ATP Tour would benefit from a Cinderella fairy tale, which would undoubtedly be the case if Ben Shelton reached the final, this scenario is ultimately unlikely. Therefore, we recommend soberly betting on the 3:0 victory of the Serbian superstar.

Ben Shelton – statistics & current form

Current position in the world ranking: 47
Position in the seedings: unseeded

Only 20 years young, American Ben Shelton only started playing tennis at the age of twelve. It wasn’t until 2022 that the son of Bryan Shelton (once ATP 55) became a tennis pro. And for the first time ever, the up-and-coming star traveled abroad in 2023 to take part in a tennis tournament.

We are talking about the Australian Open, where the player from Atlanta was able to show off for the first time. With four wins, he reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time and, despite a comparatively simple tournament tree, gave an indication of his enormous talent.

Recent three remarkable 3-1 wins in a row

Now the American has not only repeated that coup, but surpassed it. In the process, he even took out some heavyweights this time. Although the 2020 champion Dominic Thiem had to admit defeat to the youngster in the second round due to injury.

But with Aslan Karatsev (ATP 77), Tommy Paul (ATP 14) and Frances Tiafoe (ATP 10), the 20-year-old then bowled out three really big names with 3:1 each. In only the fifth men’s singles of a Grand Slam tournament in his career, Ben Shelton has thus reached the round of the best four athletes at the first go.

Is Shelton’s game still too immature?

In the run-up to the duel between Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic, however, the odds are once again very clearly against the youngster, who took the crowd by storm with equally cheeky and confident play, but ultimately often acted too wildly and impetuously.

In the decisive set against Frances Tiafoe, the American was able to reduce the number of errors at just the right moment (only three unforced errors in the fourth set), after a game that had previously been very sloppy and error-prone. In the end, however, there were 34 unforced errors in total – one more than Tiafoe’s opponent.

Novak Djokovic – statistics & current form

Current position in the world ranking: 2
Position in the seedings: 2

The 36-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic famously missed the US Open a year ago because he was not allowed to enter the United States of America. Accordingly, the Djoker has set his sights high for this year’s edition.

The man who has already reached the final of the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the 2023 season and even won the Australian Open and French Open is only one victory away from the final. At Flushing Meadows, it would be final number ten for the Djoker, who won the hard-court Grand Slam in New York City in 2011, 2015 and 2018.

The 100th singles match at the US Open is coming up

In total, Nole brings it to 86 wins from 99 completed singles matches at the US Open. In his twelve appearances in the semifinals so far, he has prevailed nine times and made it to the grand final. Now he wants to build on this good record in his 100th singles match at Flushing Meadows.

In the case of Ben Shelton against Novak Djokovic, the betting on victory for the Djoker, who is once again pulverizing old records, is certainly under good omens. For example, he was the first player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 47th time, and at the US Open in particular he is the oldest semifinalist since Jimmy Connors (1991) at the age of 36.

Physically still in the very best shape

So far, in any case, the Serb’s age didn’t matter at all. Even in the complicated third match, when he had to come back from a 0:2 set deficit against his compatriot Laslo Djere, the physicality of the designated world number one, who will overtake Carlos Alcaraz in the rankings regardless of the outcome of the tournament on Monday, was enough for a 3:2 comeback victory.

Most recently, he again gave the great American hope Taylor Fritz (ATP 9) not a hint of a chance in a clean 3-0 win (6:1, 6:4 and 6:4) in just two hours and 38 minutes. In the end, the Djoker not only scored on his first serve 68% of the time, but also 57% of the time still on his second serve and only surrendered his service game twice in total.

Ben Shelton – Novak Djokovic Direct comparison / H2H record

Head to head: 0:0

Never before has there been a meeting of the two athletes in a single match. As a result, no head to head data exists yet that could influence our prediction in the duel between Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic

Ben Shelton – Novak Djokovic Tip

When Novak Djokovic won his first ever men’s singles match at the US Open, Ben Shelton was just four years young. By the time the American started playing tennis at the rather advanced age of twelve, the Serb had already won his first seven of 23 Grand Slam tournaments to date. There is probably no clearer way to describe this “David versus Goliath” situation.

There were flashes during the tournament that a lot can be expected from the young American in the future. However, we think it’s unlikely that the Djoker will let something slip in this semifinal. That’s why we’re betting on a smooth 3:0 win for the Serbian