Ben Shelton bombs a pair of 149-mph serves en route to knocking South Jersey native Tommy Paul out of U.S. Open

NEW YORK — Tommy Paul was able to pull one rabbit out of a hat in this U.S. Open.

But a second dramatic recovery wasn’t in the offing.

No. 14 Paul, who was born in Voorhees Township before moving to Greenville, N.C. as a young child, lost to fellow American Ben Shelton, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the fourth round in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“I think he played unbelievable at the net today,” Paul said. “I mean, a lot of massive points, a lot of breakpoints, a lot of game points. He came to the net and, I mean, he volleyed really well. I thought that was one of the main differences in the match that changed stuff his way.”

Paul, 25, had come back from two sets down in his second-round win over Russia’s Roman Safiullin. Against Shelton, he was seeking his first U.S. Open quarterfinal after reaching the Australian Open semifinals in January.

Instead, the 20-year-old Shelton, a big, athletic left-hander who bombed two serves at 149-mph after hitting one at 147 earlier in the tournament, advanced to his first U.S. Open quarterfinal where he will face No. 10 Frances Tiafoe on Tuesday. One of them is guaranteed to play in the semifinals and take home $775,000 for that achievement.

Tiafoe beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in straight sets, while No. 9 seed and fellow American Taylor Fritz also advanced. It marked the first time since 2005 that three American men reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers along with teammates Randall Cobb and C.J. Uzomah were in the stands for Paul’s match, which was followed by another popcorn match between Coco Gauff and Caroline Wozniacki.

Paul had beaten Shelton, the 2022 NCAA singles champion at Florida, in four sets in the Australian Open quarterfinals but in this match Shelton had all the answers.

Shelton bombed 15 aces and won 75% of points on his first serve while converting 6-of-8 break points. Shelton’s two 149-mph aces were the biggest serves at the Open since Andy Roddick unleashed one at 152-mph in 2004. He also hit a terrific body serve at 146-mph in the fourth set that handcuffed Paul.

“I think straight adrenaline,” Shelton said on court of his serves. “I couldn’t have done it without this crowd. I think my arm might feel off but it’s feeling pretty good right now.”

Paul joked that he tried to interfere with Shelton’s serving rhythm during crossovers by giving him exceeding praise.

“You don’t want to be disrespectful,” Paul said. “I try and be overly respectful. On changeovers like ‘Dude you’re serving great today.’ I hit him with a few of those today but he had no reaction.”

Paul led 3-0 in the first set and had a chance for a double-break but converted only 3-of-14 break opportunities in the match.

With Shelton up two sets to love, he broke Paul for a 3-1 lead in the third set when Paul double-faulted on break point.

Still, Paul rattled off five straight games — breaking Shelton twice — and took the third set 6-4 with a backhand volley winner on set point. Chants of “Here we go, Tommy,” rang out during the match in support of Paul.

Serving at 4-5, 30-40, Paul sailed a forehand deep and then embraced Shelton at the net as the crowd cheered.

Asked what he had learned from the Australian Open loss to Paul, Shelton smiled and said, “I really learned how to be mentally tough. When I was in Australia, I told my box, ‘I’m tired, I can’t go any more.’

“I realize how [important] it is to believe in myself and believe that I can go the whole distance emotionally and physically.”

Despite the disappointing loss, Paul this year became the first American man to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2009. There he lost to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament for his 22nd career major. Djokovic remains the betting favorite to win his record-tying 24th major in New York.

“Overall, it’s a good thing that I’m here right now,” Paul said. “Hopefully I can learn from today’s loss and be in the same position next year and win that match.

“I think it was overall a good showing here, but I want to do better next year and better in Australia, better in French. Like, I always want to try and be better. That’s the goal.”

Paul is currently No. 12 in the Live Rankings and owns a win this summer over world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier credits coach Brad Stine with getting Paul to be more aggressive with his game.

“He’s got Tommy Paul on the cusp of Top 10,” Courier said on Tennis Channel last month.

All the American men are aware that it’s been 20 years since Roddick became the last American man to win a major at the 2003 U.S. Open, a stretch of 78 majors.

“We’ve been hearing it for a while, I guess that’s gonna be the thing these next two weeks,” Paul said before the tournament. “Hopefully, one of us can do it.”

It just won’t be him.

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.