Ben Shelton is known for his lightning-fast serve, just maybe not that fast.
During the third set of the 23-year-old’s US Open semifinal against fellow American Frances Tiafoe, the radar at Arthur Ashe Stadium clocked Shelton at 158 miles per hour. The number flashed on the screen and immediately felt too high, even for a serve that was clearly hit with serious power. Tiafoe barely got his racket on it, sending the return out of bounds.
Had the reading stood, it would have broken several records. It would have become the fastest serve ever officially recorded by the ATP. It would have been the kind of number that rewrites history books and ends debates about who has the biggest delivery in tennis.
It didn’t stand. Hawk-Eye, the computer visual system used to verify line calls and ball speeds, took a second look. Both Hawk-Eye and the U.S. Tennis Association confirmed the serve actually hit 144 miles per hour, via The Athletic’s Lukas Weese. The US Open later corrected the mistake on social media with a simple post: "After review, it came in at 144 MPH. Still pretty fast."
The gap between 158 and 144 is significant. The difference between a historic anomaly and a very good serve. But 144 is still nothing to dismiss. It’s faster than most current players on tour can hit, and it’s a speed Shelton reaches on a regular basis. It wasn’t even his fastest of the night. Earlier in the match, the young American clocked a serve at 149 miles per hour.
The discrepancy raises questions about how such a large error could happen in the first place. Radar systems at stadiums are typically reliable, but they can be thrown off by a number of factors, including the angle of the serve, interference from other signals, or simply the sheer velocity of the ball confusing the equipment. In this case, the initial reading was displayed in the stadium and broadcast to millions before the correction came through. By then, the damage was done. The 158 number had already made its way across social media, with clips of the serve circulating widely before the official review was completed.
Shelton’s serving performance throughout the match was notably superior to Tiafoe’s. Through the first three sets, Shelton averaged 123 miles per hour on his serves, while Tiafoe averaged 103. That 20-mile-per-hour gap is substantial at the professional level, where even a few miles per hour can be the difference between an ace and a returnable ball. Shelton’s power has been a defining feature of his game since he broke onto the tour, and he has cracked 150 miles per hour in other events. His time for 158 might be coming, just not on Friday.
The match itself was a showcase for American tennis, with both players pushing each other through a high-stakes semifinal in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium. Shelton’s serve was the headline act, but Tiafoe’s ability to stay in points and force errors kept the contest competitive. The crowd, split between the two home favorites, roared for every big hit and every clutch point.
For Shelton, the corrected number doesn’t change the outcome of the match or his place in the tournament. He still advanced, and he still delivered a serving performance that was among the best of the night. But the incident does highlight the reliance on technology in modern tennis and the speed at which information, accurate or not, travels. The initial reading was wrong, but it was also believable, which says something about how far Shelton’s reputation as a power server has come.
The US Open confirmed the correction on social media, and the story quietly moved on. Shelton’s fastest serve of the night remained 149 miles per hour, a number that would still stand out on any tour leaderboard. The 158 reading, now officially debunked, exists only in the memory of the fans who saw it flash on the screen and in the clips that continue to circulate online. Hawk-Eye had the final word, and the record books remain unchanged.
According to Yahoo Sports.