Ben Shelton carries American hopes in US Open final after beating Frances Tiafoe

The 23-year-old from Florida beat compatriot Frances Tiafoe on a poignant day when New York remembered the September 11 terror attacks, 25 years on.

Eighth seed Shelton will bid to become the first man from the US to lift the trophy – or win any grand slam title for that matter – since Andy Roddick triumphed here in 2003.

He said: “First, ‘Foe’ is like a big brother to me. This is where we want to be, at the tail end of this tournament.

“I know what my goal is, what my job is. I’m going for it here. Let’s do this for the USA!

“One more thing. It’s a difficult day to be out here playing. My thoughts and prayers go to all the families who were impacted by 9/11.”

Tiafoe, known as ‘Big Foe’, played his part in the Big Apple, but ultimately came up short after four hard-fought sets.

He was the aggressor in the first set and the pressure told when he brought up break point at 4-4 and Shelton promptly double-faulted.

The gloves were off at the start of the second, Shelton breaking to love and Tiafoe hitting straight back to 15.

A 78mph backhand winner brought Shelton – showing no ill-effects from the 3.33am Wednesday morning finish when he knocked out defending champion Carlos Alcaraz – another break point to level the match.

A cross-court backhand winner secured Shelton a break in the third to put him ahead for the first time.

He struck again at the end of the fourth to wrap up an emotional 4-6 6-3 6-3 7-5 win and reach his first grand slam final.

Top seed Zverev, into a third successive major final after winning the French Open and finishing runner-up at Wimbledon, had said “hopefully I cannot make the American dream come true” after beating Karen Khachanov.

The German is going to face a partisan crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium, one that already made its feelings clear when he was given a time violation for his incessant bouncing of the ball before serving.

Khachanov, the Russian world number 50 who lost 6-3 7-6 (7) 7-6 (6) in just under three hours, said: “I mean, the way he bounces the ball, look, it annoys not only me, of course, a lot of players, because it takes so much time.

“You don’t know how to prepare for the serve. You are, like, ready, and then it’s another 12 bounces, you know, so you again do a split step. Every point is like that.

“At the end of the day, if it’s within the rules with the time between points, I cannot say anything against that. If he extends the time, then he gets a time violation, so it’s as simple as that.”

Zverev insisted it is not a deliberate ploy. He said: “I have no idea why. I’m not doing it on purpose.

“I saw a stat, like, I’d bounced it 12,000 times or something like that. That’s quite funny.”