Ben Shelton comes up with unique strategy to have his name spelled on bench during US Open 2023 QF

Ben Shelton made sure that his name was spelled on his bench during his quarterfinal clash at the US Open by placing his towel in a certain manner on Tuesday (September 5).

The American reached the last eight of a Grand Slam for the second time this year at Flushing Meadows with wins over Pedro Cachin, Dominic Thiem, Aslan Karatsev, and 14th seed Tommy Paul.

Here, he faced 10th seed Frances Tiafoe, whom he beat 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 to reach his maiden Grand Slam semifinal. During the match, Shelton flipped the US Open towel on his bench in a way that it read "BEN".

US Open towels have the tournament name inscribed on it in such a manner that one line reads "USO" with the "O" shaped like a tennis ball and the line below reads "PEN".

Ben Shelton placed his towel upside down and backwards on his bench so that it spelt "BEN".

Ben Shelton's win over Frances Tiafoe sees him take a 1-0 head-to-head lead over him.

Ben Shelton will face Novak Djokovic in the US Open semifinals

Ben Shelton in action at the US Open

After beating Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton faces a daunting task ahead as he will face Novak Djokovic in the US Open semifinals. Speaking about the match, Shelton said that it would be a tough challenge and hailed Djokovic's mentality.

"Yeah, definitely a tough challenge. I think that whenever you play somebody for the first time and someone who has been in this situation so many times and come out victorious so many times, that's in the back of your head," Shelton said at the post-match press conference.

"You just know how, you know, rock solid the guy is and how mentally tough, how physically tough. So that's definitely something that I have to game-plan for," he added.

Shelton also claimed that he had an advantage against Djokovic with his game style since the Serb hadn't faced him before.

"I also think that, you know, it's an advantage with my game style playing someone who's never played me before. I think that I can bring some things to the table that maybe you don't see in your normal match that you play on the ATP tour. So I'm definitely going to try to bring some things to the table that are different and hopefully disruptive on Friday," the 20-year-old said.

If Shelton manages to defeat Djokovic, he will be the first American man to reach the US Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006.