Ben Shelton’s impressive run should come to an end in a big way vs. Novak Djokovic in US Open semifinal

Things continue to break Novak Djokovic’s way at the 2023 US Open.

Not that the 23-time Grand Slam champion needs any help to get back to another final, but Djokovic would be lying if he wasn’t pleased with the result of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between 20-year-old Ben Shelton and World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe.

Shelton, a talented but raw player, was able to upset the all-courter Tiafoe in four sets to earn a surprising trip to his first Grand Slam semifinal against the best player in the world.

Djokovic is a prohibitive -1600 favorite on Friday.

Not only did Djokovic end up with the less complicated opponent for Friday’s semifinal, but the 36-year-old Serb also caught a break with the weather. After a mild first week, the heat in New York City has been oppressive since Labor Day. Djokovic seemed to be struggling a bit with the humidity in a straight-set victory over Taylor Fritz in which neither player was all that sharp, but he won’t have to worry about the weather on Friday as things should cool off considerably overnight on Thursday.

Another good bit of fortune for Djokovic is that he’ll have an extra day to prepare for Shelton, which is never a bad thing for someone his age.

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But even if the conditions were less than ideal, it’s hard not to see this match being one-way traffic for Djokovic. Shelton’s game is coming along and he’s proven that he’s not to just a serve-bot during this run, but it’s hard to imagine Djokovic tightening up in the same fashion that Tommy Paul and Tiafoe did in Shelton’s past two matches. The rallies will be longer and more complex, plus Djokovic will be able to put Shelton’s serve back in play a lot more than anybody the former Florida Gator has seen to this point.

Djokovic was not even close to his best on Tuesday and dismantled another American with a big serve, Taylor Fritz, in straight sets, so it’s fair to assume a similar outcome here.

Shelton’s monstrous serve does increase the likelihood that we see a tiebreaker or at least one close set, but Djokovic is the best defender in the history of the sport and should be able to figure out the youngster in time to put up a couple of lopsided scores and cover the game spread.

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