Neither deserved to, but one had to go. 

Yes, both figure to remain at the forefront of American men’s tennis for the foreseeable future.

But Frances Tiafoe found redemption in this friendly rivalry and perhaps restored his stature as one of the top hopes for the United States to break its 21-year Grand Slam drought. 

The heavily anticipated U.S. Open rematch between No. 13-ranked Ben Shelton and No. 20 Tiafoe — two of the best and most popular American men’s players — came earlier than desired, in the third round Friday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Last year, Shelton beat Tiafoe in the quarterfinals in what went down as one of the most memorable matches of the tournament. 

If last year’s classic was the appetizer, Friday’s thrilling four-hours-and-three-minute, five-set encore was the main course.

Shelton, still just 21 years old, and Tiafoe, 26, largely matched each other shot for shot, and it ended with a new result.

Tiafoe beat Shelton, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round.

He’ll face No. 28 Alexei Popyrin, who upset No. 2 Novak Djokovic late Friday night. 

“Ben’s an incredible player,” Tiafoe said. “He comes up with the goods a lot. It was definitely a tough match. I think the level was a lot higher this year than when we played last year.” 

Each time it looked like Shelton was about to pull away, there was Tiafoe fighting his way right back into the match.

Tiafoe kept providing answers, and eventually had more energy by the end. 

Down two sets to one, Tiafoe beat Shelton 6-4 and broke him in the 10th game to win the fourth set and stay alive.

Then it became closing time for Tiafoe, who turned into Mariano Rivera in the fifth set and took off. 

Earlier, Shelton faced a triple break point in the seventh game of the second set after splitting the first six, but Tiafoe choked it away to instead fall behind 4-3 in the set.

Two games later, Tiafoe found himself up 40-0 again with another opportunity to break Shelton, but blew it once more.

Shelton came back to win the game, taking a 5-4 lead in the second set. 

But Tiafoe dug deep and won the next three games — breaking Shelton in the 11th game — to take the second set 7-5. 

“It’s something I’ve done much better at lately — just don’t lay down,” Tiafoe said. “Something I’ve been priding myself on is don’t lay down. I’ve been working on myself so much. I have a mental guy, process guy, working on myself to look at the glass differently. 

“I was down two sets to one, I was like ‘you got nothing else to do, nowhere else to be. Just keep going.’” 

Tiafoe, who reached the semifinals during the 2022 U.S. Open, now has his first win against Shelton, whom he mentored when the latter turned pro and remains close friends with.

The two shared a long embrace after the match. 

In addition to last year’s U.S. Open win, Shelton also beat Tiafoe in the Houston title match in April. 

“It didn’t feel like a third-round match,” Shelton said, gushing about Tiafoe’s performance. “It felt like one of those you play late in the two weeks. Should’ve been a night match. It is what it is. Great atmosphere, just one of those back-and-forth, back-and-forth [matches]. I wasn’t able to capitalize on the chances I had at the end. When he had them today, he really came through in big moments.” 

Tiafoe had struggled this year, going 15-15 before he hired David Witt as his new coach.

He’s gone 12-4 since, including Friday’s win. 

He overcame a major serving disadvantage on Friday. Shelton had 23 aces to Tiafoe’s five, and Shelton’s 143 mph ace to win the third-set tiebreak was the fastest of the tournament. 

But Shelton’s ascension has been put on pause. Tiafoe’s is back on track. 

“I struggled for a long time,” Tiafoe said. “I played really, really bad for a very, very long time. … I just got the joy again.”