By admin 
They say you never count the greats out, and the likes of Big 3 have already proved that they can come back out of nowhere to win crucial matches, especially at slams. A future great, Carlos Alcaraz, might need some of that ‘Big-3’ energy to do the impossible in a late-night blockbuster against Ben Shelton at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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Shelton, who really gave a tough fight to the Spaniard, ended up losing the first set in a tie-breaker. At one point, it looked like Shelton might clinch the opener, but Alcaraz amped up his level to produce scintillating tennis at just the right moment. The backhand lob to close the first set out was just perfection.
But the story after that has gone in a completely different direction. Shelton not only started dominating points, but Alcaraz’s level has also started dipping to a point where it looked like he wasn’t even trying. Many of the tennis fans, who are up late watching this blockbuster contest, took to social media to express their feelings about the Spaniard getting breadsticked by Shelton in the 2nd set.
“Never seen Carlos Alcaraz play this bad,” one fan wrote on X. “Is Alcaraz injured?” another fan commented, while some started wondering if he is going to retire midway through this match.
I’ve never seen Alcaraz play this bad
— Ba Poulo Jeri🇲🇷🇸🇳 (@Papis795) September 9, 2026
Alcaraz didn’t take an injury time-out or appeared to be struggling with a visible physical issue. However, his movement appears to be compromised, and fans believe that it’s impossible for the Spaniard to bounce back and book a place in the semis.
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Is Alcaraz injured? 👀#usopen
— Louise 🇦🇺🇪🇸 (@MysticMjay) September 9, 2026
Some fans also started believing that the Spanish tennis star will surely retire by the end of the third set. Shelton currently leads 4-1.
Alcaraz is gonna retire this set
— – (@ejxxii) September 9, 2026
The way Alcaraz is currently playing, many of his fans don’t want to sleep and instead stay up and continue cheering him on.
If I wake up and Carlos Alcaraz loses to Ben Shelton…
— jess (@only1interIude) September 9, 2026
While Alcaraz is known to script historic comebacks and has made it multiple times at Grand Slams, it might not be possible all the time, and looking at the way Ben Shelton is playing, the American is surely looking dominant to win this match and put himself in a strong position to lift the US Open trophy.
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This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 10:24 PM.