Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton: When was last time World No 3 Spaniard lost a Grand Slam match?

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is having a tough time in the men's singles quarterfinal of the US Open 2026 against home favourite Ben Shelton at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday. Having missed two Grand Slams due to injury, Alcaraz is on a comeback trail, hoping to get his mojo back at the final Major of the year.

On the other hand, Shelton is eyeing his first-ever Grand Slam triumph and faced a tough competition against the Spaniard, despite the fact that the seven-time Grand Slam champion is playing his first tournament in more than four months after recovering from a right wrist injury.

At the time of writing, the second seed Alcaraz fought off the eighth-seed Shelton in the first set tiebreak to take a 1-0 lead, but conceded the next two sets to find himself in great trouble. But Alcaraz is in no mood to let go of Shelton so easily, as he made a roaring 6-1 comeback in the fourth set.

When did Carlos Alcaraz lose last time in Grand Slam?

Having made his Grand Slam debut in 2022, Alcaraz has already completed a career Grand Slam, winning all four - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The last time Alcaraz lost a Grand Slam match was in the final of Wimbledon 2025, against Jannik Sinner.

Since then, Alcaraz has won the US Open 2025 and the Australian Open 2026 titles. In any Grand Slam singles tournament, any player who goes on to win the title plays a total of seven games. Currently, Alcaraz has won four matches at the ongoing US Open 2026, extending his unbeaten streak to 18 matches.

Ben Shelton vs Carlos Alcaraz head-to-head

As far as the head-to-head statistics are concerned, Alcaraz leads by a 3-0 margin. Alcaraz, an unknown quantity coming into his title defence after his injury layoff, has improved with every match, and he'll likely need to do so again against Shelton.

Shelton came through three tough four-setters before blowing past Stefanos Tsitsipas behind a stellar performance on serve and said he still has room to improve against Alcaraz. This is Shelton's fourth appearance in a quarterfinal of a Grand Slam. Previously, Shelton's best finishes at Majors included quarterfinal exits at the Australian Open (2023 & 2026) and Wimbledon (2025).

Carlos Alcaraz's unbeaten streak ends

Meanwhile, Shelton ended Alcaraz's title reign at 3:33 am (US time), pulling out a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory in a match that lasted for four hours and 28 minutes as Alcaraz's 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments ended.

Shelton will next play No 11 seed Frances Tiafoe, who kept coming back until he had reached his third US Open semifinal, beating Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6) on Tuesday.

(The story has been updated with recent developments.)