• Shelton sees off Alcaraz in latest ever US Open finish

• Tiafoe breaks Michelsen’s heart with epic comeback

First set: Shelton 3-2 Alcaraz* (*denotes next server)

An even breezier service game from Shelton, who holds to love. During the changeover, the cameras pan to a few of the celebrities in the audience. There’s Kevin Hart taking it in from a suite. And, of course, there’s USA and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, Shelton’s girlfriend, watching from his player box. We’ve also heard Simone Biles is in the building somewhere.

• No 11 seed rallies for 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) win

• Tiafoe into third US Open semi-final in five years

• American will play Alcaraz or Shelton in last four

At the end of more than four and a half hours of escalating drama inside the world’s biggest tennis stadium, a devastated Alex Michelsen fell into Frances Tiafoe’s arms just outside the tramlines, sobbing uncontrollably. Tiafoe took his younger countryman in an embrace and held him there for 23 seconds, the victor consoling the vanquished in the aftermath of an extraordinary comeback that had carried him, somehow, into the US Open semi-finals.

Only a couple of hours earlier, the 28-year-old Tiafoe had been two sets down and two points from elimination in the third set, with Michelsen within touching distance of the biggest victory of his young career. Instead, Tiafoe roared back from the brink to win a quarter-final that will be long remembered in New York, outlasting Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Tuesday afternoon to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows for the third time in five years. Now he will face Ben Shelton on Friday after the American ousted defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in another epic five-set marathon that ended at 3.33am on Wednesday morning.

Frontrunner Sununu beats Scott Brown to earn Republican nod in closely watched race in November

Former senator John E Sununu triumphed on Tuesday in the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary over Scott Brown, earning the GOP nod in what will probably be a must-win race if Democrats hope to seize the upper chamber.

Sununu, 61, was the clear frontrunner in the GOP primary. He served one term in the Senate from 2003 to 2009.

Candidates must focus on two issues: affordability and accountability. They are not competing priorities

As the November election approaches with control of the House and Senate on the line, the stakes are high. With so much riding on the outcome, there is no shortage of debate about the message Democrats need to win.

Affordability has emerged as a shared – if often undefined – rallying cry. Working families are struggling with rising costs and looking for answers. But too often, we’ve seen affordability positioned as the beginning and end of the plan. Meanwhile, many see holding the Trump administration accountable for its corruption and harms as at odds with a relentless focus on kitchen-table issues.

The president apparently plans to focus on the person he most admires – himself – even if Republicans would rather he didn’t

With the midterm races officially beginning this week, a big question hanging over the Republican party is how Trump will allocate his giant stash of Super Pac money. As of 31 July, Maga Inc had more than $400m on hand, larger than the cash reserves of any of the major party committees.

But he’s barely spent any of it yet. Why not?