Novak Djokovic beats Ben Shelton in straight sets to reach the US Open final – where he will play Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev

Ben Shelton continued to captivate Flushing Meadows last night, but ended up getting an education from the brilliant champion sixteen years his senior.

Novak Djokovic is back in the US Open final after being denied entry to the country last year, and he will be fresh after seeing the compelling young American 6-3 6-2 7-6 in their last four meetings .

He made his point and at the end made fun of Shelton’s past victory gesture by putting down an imaginary phone.

The 36-year-old kept his end of the bargain by staging a repeat of the classic Wimbledon showdown and waited to see if he would be joined by Carlos Alcaraz, who tackled Daniil Medvedev in the second match.

In the semifinals, Djokovic was the old master dispensing a lesson to a newly emerging college player. Full of quick energy, Shelton clearly has a big advantage going for him and offered a late challenge after breaking back for 4-4 in the third set, but never looked likely to pull off an upset.

“These are the kinds of occasions I enjoy,” Djokovic said. Grand Slams motivate me to play my best tennis. “I knew I was going to play against an American, everything was going smoothly for me and then he broke back and in the end it was anyone’s game, I had to stay calm.”

Shelton came to a stadium with its roof closed due to stormy weather that seemed to disrupt the brutal heat and humidity experienced here in recent days.

There was a clap of thunder overhead in the first set, and something similar on the court as the young American began throwing one haymaker after another at the great champion, with decidedly mixed results.

The roof increases the noise level of the constant chatter and shouting around Arthur Ashe, and the feverish atmosphere likely added to the adrenaline already coursing through the young American’s veins.

To the delight of the packed crowd, he soon used his golden left arm to deliver serves of 220 km/h, and a daring second delivery reached speeds of up to 230 km/h. Although they play different hands, there is certainly the same factor of not being able to take your eyes off him as there is with a high-functioning Nick Kyrgios.

Shelton’s problem is that he doesn’t get flustered much by Djokovic, whose game is perfectly equipped to absorb the pace and return any serve that is physically responsible.

Playing at a much slower pace, he was delighted to see some non-returnable serves flying his way, knowing they would be accompanied by breaking opportunities.

It didn’t take long for the American to make unnecessary mistakes by doing more than necessary. He contributed nine in the first six games and that was enough for the Serbian to take a 4-2 lead.

Djokovic’s biggest discomfort came while serving at 5-3 when he was awarded a break point, accompanied by an almighty din. His opponent tried to win the ball by absolutely cracking a forehand, but only succeeded in punching it into the net.

The second set was a similar story, with the American taking his toll of unforced errors towards 30 at the end of the set, while the much more measured Djokovic could barely register double figures.

Another big difference was the success rate at net, one of the areas where the raw youngster needs more refinement. Every time Djokovic went there he won the point, while Shelton’s dinks and volleys often flew wide or resulted in easy putaways.

His best phase came when he went for more consistency later on, but he was always behind in the 7-4 tiebreak. That must have been part of this excellent education.