US Open Tennis 2023: Top Storylines to Watch in Men’s Semifinals | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

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The top three players in the 2023 US Open men’s singles draw and the feel good story of the tournament will play in the semifinals.

Reigning champion and top seed Carlos Alcaraz goes up against No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev, who has a strong track record at the hard-court majors.

Novak Djokovic, the No. 2 seed, takes on unseeded American Ben Shelton as part of Friday’s two-match slate inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Alcaraz, Djokovic and Medvedev have all been to multiple Grand Slam finals, and all three of them are previous US Open winners.

Two of them are expected to clinch spots in Sunday’s men’s singles final. Shelton has been fantastic to watch in the tournament, but beating Djokovic in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal feels like an impossible task.

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Alcaraz and Medvedev will meet for the third time in 2023 and for the fourth time in their careers.

Alcaraz defeated Medvedev in straight sets in the Wimbledon semifinals on his way to his first major title of 2023.

The Spaniard also swept Medvedev on the hard court at Indian Wells earlier in the season.

Alcaraz won all five of his sets against Medvedev by three or more games.

Medvedev last beat Alcaraz in their first head-to-head meeting in 2021. He won that match in straight sets in the round of 64 at Wimbledon.

Alcaraz is aiming to become the first repeat US Open winner on the men’s side since Roger Federer in 2007 and 2008. He would be the fourth man since 2006 to win multiple majors in a single season.

Medvedev won his first major title at the US Open two years ago, and any hard-court major gives him the best chance to win another tournament.

The No. 3 seed is in his fourth US Open semifinal in five years. He also reached the Australian Open final in two of the last three seasons.

Medvedev is capable of beating Alcaraz at his best, but the Spaniard is playing at such a high level right now that a win from any of his opponents has to be viewed as a huge upset, even if they are the No. 3 seed at a Grand Slam.

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The winningest men’s singles player in history carries some extra motivation into his US Open semifinal.

Djokovic has not won in New York since 2018. He is a three-time champion of the event. He also won in 2011 and 2015.

Djokovic comes into Friday’s matchup versus Shelton with a 15-2 set record at this year’s event. The only slip-up came in the first and second sets against Laslo Djere in the third round.

The No. 2 seed won his last nine sets and his most recent win came over another American in Taylor Fritz, the No. 9 seed.

Shelton upset fellow Americans Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul to reach his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.

Shelton broke on to the Grand Slam scene with a quarterfinal berth at the 2023 Australian Open and he re-emerged during the second hard court major.

There is no doubt that the 20-year-old will have the New York crowd behind him, but that will not be enough to compete with Djokovic.

Shelton must play flawless tennis to just even take a set off the Serbian, and if he somehow wins, it will be one of the biggest upsets in the last decade of men’s Grand Slam tennis.