Friday, it was Ben Shelton.

A day later, Alexander Zverev departed.

Suddenly, the top seeds are exiting the men’s draw of the U.S. Open in a hurry.

After taking the first set, the third-seeded Zverev was no match for Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is into the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time since 2021 with his first win over a top-five player in a Grand Slam in seven tries.

It was also his first top-three win in three years.

He advanced with a convincing 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 victory at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The 25th seed wasn’t having a particularly strong Grand Slam season, failing to get past the second round of the first three majors.

But he has performed well in Queens so far, getting through his first two matches without dropping a set.

And he was at his best against Zverev, who had reached the quarterfinals here the two previous years and got all the way to the final in 2020.

“This feels good, this feels good,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. Asked if he can use this victory as further motivation, he replied, “I think I’d be a fool not to. I’m going to recover as quick as I can.”

Auger-Aliassime saved a set point in the second set, then took command in the third with an early break.

In the fourth, he broke Zverev at 3-3, leading to “Let’s go Felix” chants from the crowd.

He held serve at 15 to complete the upset, and his biggest victory in quite some time.

Over the final three sets, Auger-Aliassime’s serve was dominant.

He faced just three break points, and fought off all of them.

He backed that up with a blistering forehand, contributing to a whopping 50 winners in the 3-hour and 48-minute match.

“A performance like this doesn’t fall out of the sky, but you never know also when you’re going to play that level on any given day,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s a great boost of confidence, for sure. Encouraging for myself, my team, everybody that’s been supporting me.”

Zverev grew frustrated as the match went on, throwing his racket at one point in the third set.

After a first-round loss at Wimbledon, he was hoping for an extended stay in Queens, but that didn’t happen.

Zverev’s surprising loss opens up the top half of the draw.

He was projected to meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.

One of four men — Auger-Aliassime, No. 15 Andrey Rublev, No. 8 Alex de Minaur and qualifier Leandro Riedi — will reach the semis.

Waiting for Auger-Aliassime in Round of 16 will be Rublev, a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Coleman Wong.