This time, the All-American showdown between Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton comes a little early.
Both players comfortably won their second-round matches at the U.S. Open on a hot, sweaty Wednesday in Flushing to advance to the third round.
This resulted in a rematch of last year's traditional quarter-final, this time two rounds earlier.
“Yeah, I'm excited. I love these kinds of fights and I live for them,” Shelton said. “The draw brought this fight a little early, but it still feels the same. It still feels like a big fight and I'm really excited for it.”
“I know the crowd here loves him, probably more than I do. He's a crazy fan here and his crowd is crazy. We're good friends. It's going to be a battle. It's going to be a war just like the last two games. I'm really looking forward to playing with him again.”
Tiafoe is popular with New York audiences as well as the stars here.
Shelton beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and Tiafoe was leading 6-4, 6-1, 1-0 before Alexander Shevchenko was forced to retire.
Tiafoe wore a Jalen Brunson jersey before the game and celebrated with Mikal Bridges courtside afterward.
Tiafoe, who wore Immanuel Quickley's jersey last year and Kevin Durant's a year before that, is popular outside the tennis world and his all-American showdown with Shelton on Friday promises to be a must-watch event.
“Obviously, he's a lot like me in terms of excitement and energy on the court, plays a great game, hits great shots, hits great serves, gets the crowd going. He's 20, 21 years old, young and funny, jokes around and is just as immature as I am,” Tiafoe laughed. “We always joke around and have fun.
“Obviously, his serve is great. He has one of the best serves on the tour, for sure. Especially as a left-hander, he can attack every point and change the pace pretty well. It's going to be a tough match, but I'm really looking forward to it.”
Immediately after winning the match, Tiafoe pointed to Bridges in the front row, mimicked Bridges' trademark bobblehead celebration and approached him to receive the congratulations.
“I'm friends with a lot of NBA players and we often celebrate our victories in basketball, and I celebrated with him after the game and he was laughing,” Tiafoe said. “So yeah, there's a connection between my love for basketball and them following me because I'm a person of color playing tennis.”
“The funny thing is, I was actually going to wear Mikal Bridges' uniform because he was coming to the game. He texted me saying he was coming to the game. But I'm not a morning person, so I put the uniform on and took it off when I went to practice…But yeah, Brunson, he's the guy here. He's way bigger than Jay-Z.”
Tiafoe, who reached the semifinals two years ago in Flushing, was in control throughout the match.
He broke Shevchenko to win the first set, then led 5-1 in the second with a double break and took that set as well.
Shevchenko had to call for a trainer after the second set and retired in the third.
Tiafoe seems to have regained momentum since hiring David Witt as coach.
He had a tough time at Wimbledon, going 15-15 before missing the Olympics.
Since hiring Witt, who has coached Venus Williams, Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari, in Atlanta, Tiafoe has gone 11-4 and won seven of her last eight matches.
The 21-year-old Shelton beat his Spanish opponent in straight sets.
He has one of the most powerful serves on the tour, but he was moving so well Wednesday that he didn't even need to put out his best serve.
Shelton's fastest serve of the day was an ace at 141 mph.
“Any time you get to play against him in a moment like this, it's a big opportunity for me and any other American or player,” said Shelton, who defeated Tiafoe in the quarterfinals last year to become the youngest American player to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since 1992.
