Ben Shelton Beats Frances Tiafoe, Reaches First Grand Slam Final at 2026 US Open

Shelton rallies past Tiafoe in four sets to become the first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972; top-seeded Alexander Zverev awaits Sunday.

NEW YORK | Ben Shelton has spent the 2026 US Open knocking down barriers, surviving late nights and proving that American men’s tennis may finally have another player ready to end a Grand Slam drought that has lasted more than two decades.

Now he is one victory away.

Shelton defeated fellow American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, advancing to the first Grand Slam final of his career and setting up a Sunday championship showdown against top-seeded Alexander Zverev.

The No. 8 seed became the first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972 — an achievement made all the more poignant inside the stadium bearing Ashe’s name.

For Shelton, however, history is not the finish line.

The 23-year-old is chasing something American men’s tennis has waited 23 years to celebrate: a Grand Slam singles champion.

Andy Roddick remains the last American man to win a major, capturing the 2003 US Open. Shelton can end that drought Sunday.

And after what he has already accomplished in New York, he will arrive at the final believing he can.

Republicans Use Dallas Midterm Convention to Cast Democrats as ‘Dangerous, Radical and Frankly Weird’

GOP leaders put attacks on Democratic candidates at the center of their 2026 midterm message, even as affordability, inflation and the cost of living remain major political challenges.

DALLAS | Republicans emerged from their first-of-its-kind midterm convention with a campaign strategy built heavily around contrast: portray Democrats as ideologically extreme, motivate President Donald Trump’s political coalition and make November’s elections a choice between the two parties rather than solely a referendum on Republican control of Washington.

Over two days at the American Airlines Center, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican leaders repeatedly characterized Democratic candidates as “radical” and argued that GOP control of Congress is necessary to preserve the administration’s agenda.

The Republican National Committee described the Sept. 9-10 gathering as an effort to showcase Trump administration accomplishments, Republican candidates and the party’s vision heading into November.

But the convention also highlighted a central challenge for Republicans: balancing an aggressive cultural and ideological case against Democrats with voters’ concerns about prices and the broader economy.

'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' FactChecking Trump’s Midterm Convention Speech

In a nearly two-hour speech at the first Republican midterm convention, President Donald Trump promised to pay Americans if Republicans won, and he repeatedly said communists could take over Congress if they didn’t, among other familiar claims.

• Trump said every adult citizen would get a “dividend” of $5,000 if Republicans won the House and Senate. He suggested his tariff policies would pay for that, but it would take more than six years for tariffs to cover the $1.2 trillion price tag.
• Democratic socialists are not the same as communists, despite Trump conflating the two and warning that Congress could be “controlled by a communist caucus.” Democratic socialists make up a small minority of congressional candidates.
• The president repeated the unsupported claim that an unprecedented $20 trillion has been invested in the U.S. from “outside countries and companies.” Trump’s number is nearly double the figure provided by the White House, whose number is itself speculative and dubious.
• He made false and misleading claims about the One Big Beautiful Bill’s tax reduction. It wasn’t the “largest” tax cut in history. Trump said Democrats voted against no taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security, but the lawmakers’ opposition stemmed from the tax cuts for the wealthy and reductions in Medicaid spending to pay for the legislation.
• Trump twisted the facts in order to indirectly blame North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper for the murder of a woman on train in 2025.
• Trump boasted that more people are working than ever before “by a lot.” About 800,000 more people are working now than in January 2025, but that is largely because the population has also grown. When factoring that in, the labor market is doing slightly worse than when Trump started.
• He falsely claimed that “food prices and almost every other item are rapidly going down.” With some exceptions, prices have gone up, rising even faster than during the latter part of the Biden administration.
• The president claimed that Americans now “pay the lowest prices in the entire world for prescription drugs,” thanks to his policies. There’s no evidence that’s the case.
• Trump made several exaggerated or misleading claims related to immigration. Though the number is low, he wrongly claimed that “zero illegal aliens have entered our country from the southern border in the last 15 months.” He claimed 25 million immigrants poured into the country illegally during the Biden administration. That’s vastly inflated. And he wrongly claimed the Biden administration “allowed” in 11,888 murderers.
• He again falsely suggested that the U.S. became the world leader in oil and gas production during the current administration.
• Trump sought to link Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to a 2019 remark by left-wing commentator Hasan Piker that “America deserved 9/11.” El-Sayed has specifically disavowed those comments.
• The president claimed children “born into poverty or families with very little money … will be potentially rich when they turn 18 or 21” due to the new, so-called Trump accounts. Financial experts say it’s unlikely poor parents could contribute enough to such accounts to make that happen.

Trump gave the keynote speech on the first of the two-night convention, which he held to encourage Republican voters. “Please pretend that I’m running and get out and vote on Nov. 3 or sooner,” he said.

The president continued to push the falsehood that he “won the presidency three times,” claiming that “numerous people on the other side are actually admitting it.” Trump lost the 2020 election, and some of his own aides in his first term told him that his claims of election fraud were baseless.

Ohio Democratic Ads Connect Husted to Bribery Scandal, Despite No Charges of Wrongdoing

Democratic ads in the Ohio Senate race are highlighting a political bribery scandal involving an energy company that benefited from a 2019 nuclear-power bailout law. It’s true, as the ads say, that Republican Sen. Jon Husted backed the legislation and that the company supported his campaigns. But Husted hasn’t been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing in the scandal, which is the impression the ads may leave with voters.

We’ll explain what happened in the case, which led to federal and state charges against lobbyists, former FirstEnergy executives and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who received a 20-year federal prison sentence in 2023 for leading a racketeering conspiracy involving about $61 million in bribes for Householder to shepherd the bailout bill through the Legislature. FirstEnergy backed the bill in order to save two of its nuclear power plants. The legislation called for monthly fees added to consumers’ electric bills in order to provide more than $1 billion over seven years for nuclear power. FirstEnergy paid $230 million in penalties in a 2021 settlement with federal prosecutors.

Trump Taps Hung Cao for Permanent Navy Secretary Post

Acting Secretary and Special Operations Veteran Would Lead Navy and Marine Corps as Service Confronts Shipbuilding Delays, Readiness Demands and Global Security Threats

WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump has announced his intent to nominate acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to permanently lead the Department of the Navy, positioning the retired special operations officer to oversee the Navy and Marine Corps during a consequential period for maritime readiness and military modernization.

Trump announced the selection Sept. 1 on Truth Social, calling Cao a “true warrior” and urging the Senate to confirm him quickly. Cao has served as acting Navy secretary since April 22, following the departure of John Phelan. The Associated Press and Reuters reported the announcement.

“We need patriots like Hung leading our Navy and Marine Corps,” Trump wrote, saying Cao would help ensure the two services remain prepared to meet emerging threats.

Cao thanked the president shortly after the announcement and pledged to continue focusing on naval shipbuilding and homeland defense.

“It’s an honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team,” Cao said in a social media post.

Florida Softball’s 2027 SEC Schedule Set With Texas, Oklahoma, LSU Among Marquee Matchups

Gators Will Host Texas A&M, LSU, Kentucky and Ole Miss While Facing Defending NCAA Champion Texas and SEC Champion Oklahoma on the Road

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Florida softball’s road through the Southeastern Conference in 2027 is officially set, and the Gators will face a demanding slate featuring some of the biggest programs in college softball.

The SEC announced its 2027 conference schedule Wednesday, giving Florida eight three-game league series — four at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville and four on the road.

Among the biggest tests awaiting the Gators are road trips to face two-time defending NCAA champion Texas and back-to-back SEC champion Oklahoma, along with home series against Texas A&M and longtime conference rival LSU.

Florida Opens SEC Play at Texas

Florida begins conference competition March 12-14 with a marquee road series against Texas in Austin.

The matchup immediately puts the Gators against the two-time defending NCAA champions and gives Florida an early opportunity to establish itself in what figures to again be one of the nation's most competitive softball conferences.

After an open weekend in SEC play, Florida returns home March 26-28 to host Texas A&M in its first conference series at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

The Gators remain home the following weekend for another high-profile matchup when LSU visits Gainesville from April 2-4.