Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton Prediction 9/8/2026 Today’s Tennis Picks

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will face eighth seed Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals of the 2026 US Open on Tuesday, September 8. Here’s our Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton prediction. This preview will include a Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton pick.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton Preview

Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Tommy Paul in straight sets to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the fifth time in six appearances. The match took 29 games to decide. Alcaraz prevailed 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes.

In the victory, Alcaraz hit 33 winners, at least 15 more than Paul. Alcaraz committed 32 unforced errors, which was the same number as Paul. Alcaraz landed 67% of first serves in play and won 75% of first serve points (42/56). Alcaraz won 64% of second serve points (18/28) and saved three of four break points in the match.

Alcaraz earned wins over Roman Safiullin, Jaime Faria and Yibing Wu in the first week of the US Open. He improves to 27-3 for the season, despite missing two Grand Slams and other important ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. Alcaraz has reached the US Open semifinals three times in his career, winning the title twice.

Ben Shelton is back in the US Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2023. Shelton beat a resurgent Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the fourth round. The match took 27 games to decide. Shelton won 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in just under two hours of play.

In the victory, Shelton hammered 32 winners, at least 16 more than Tsitsipas. Shelton committed just 17 unforced errors, six fewer than the Greek. Shelton hammered 12 aces and hit just one double fault. The American landed 72% of first serves in play and won 84% of first serve points (43/51). Shelton won 70% of second serve points (14/20) and did not face a break point in the match.

Before this round, Shelton beat Tallon Griekspoor, Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov. Shelton reached the semifinals of the US Open in 2023, losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
 

Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton Head-To-Head

Alcaraz and Shelton have played 3 times on the ATP Tour. Alcaraz leads the head-to-head 3-0 and beat Shelton en route to winning the 2025 French Open. The two other meetings were on hard courts in Toronto and the Laver Cup. This will be their first meeting in over a year.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton Prediction

Shelton is one of the in-form players this swing, winning his second Masters in Canada, and continues to bridge the gap on the world’s top five. For all the noise and concern about Alcaraz’s form before the start of the tournament, we can safely say the Spaniard has hit the ground running almost immediately after recovering from a wrist injury. He’s looked way too good since returning and, in probably his most convincing performance at this US Open, he produced the kind of return and court coverage (against Paul) that can neutralize Shelton’s serve-plus-one patterns. I’ll take Alcaraz to edge this in five.

Nur Said's Pick: Alcaraz in five sets