NEW YORK — Frances Tiafoe broke down Ben Shelton’s killer serve and played brilliantly at the net to win their American rematch at the US Open on Friday, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3, and reach the fourth round for the fifth straight year at Flushing Meadows.

A year ago in New York, Tiafoe was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Shelton in four sets. The year before that, Tiafoe, who loves the spotlight and the electricity of the tournament, defeated Rafael Nadal en route to the semifinals of the US Open, the best Grand Slam performance of his career.

Tiafoe hasn’t always excelled in five-setters: He was just 6-13 in matches that went the distance before Friday. Shelton was 6-2. But that didn’t matter this time. After passing Shelton in a match that lasted 4 hours and 3 minutes, Tiafoe spread his arms wide and looked around at the thousands of cheering people in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The two friends then met at the net for a hug and a long chat.

“I have to say, Ben is an unbelievable player, man. He’s an unbelievable player. He really is. He goes for all types of shots. He doesn’t care about anything. It’s really annoying. … He’s really talented. He can make some great shots. I can make some great shots,” Tiafoe told spectators during a post-game interview. “It’s highlight reel after highlight reel. I hope you enjoyed the show.”

Tiafoe’s next opponent could be 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, the reigning champion at Flushing Meadows, was scheduled to face No. 28 Alexei Popyrin in the third round on Friday night.

Many people thought Shelton vs. Tiafoe would take place in the evening, but instead it was in the afternoon and started in front of a sparse crowd as the stands emptied after the previous meeting, 2023 champion Coco Gauff’s win over Elina Svitolina.

Shelton, a 21-year-old from Georgia, was seeded 13th. Tiafoe, a 26-year-old from Maryland, is ranked 20th. They are both among a group of five Americans in the top 20 of the ATP rankings, leading some to believe that the country’s long wait for a male major champion may soon be over. Andy Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open trophy was the most recent Grand Slam title for a U.S. man.

The highest-ranked American at the moment, No. 12 Taylor Fritz, won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 over Francisco Comesana of Argentina and will now face either three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud of Norway or Juncheng Shang of China.

Fritz became the first American to reach the round of 16 of all four majors in one year since Andre Agassi in 2003.

Another men’s fourth-round match scheduled for Friday was between No. 6 Andrey Rublev and No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov.

Shelton, a left-hander, had not lost serve in two victories this week before Friday and had produced 23 aces, reaching 143 mph, the fastest of the tournament so far. But Tiafoe mustered 21 break points — the most by an opponent against Shelton ever — and converted five of them. The latter made it 3-1 in the fifth set.

The other key? Tiafoe kept charging forward and firing volleys. He won 35 of the 48 points when he reached the net. And as usual, Tiafoe played for the fans and celebrated his “Salt Bae” after one point.

Tiafoe had a 15-15 record at tour level this season at Wimbledon but has won 12 of his last 16 matches since hiring David Witt, Venus Williams’ longtime coach for 11 years, as his coach in Atlanta in July.

And after starting the season 0-4 against players from the ATP’s top 20 at Wimbledon, he has now won five of his last six matches against top 20 players, with his only loss coming against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the Cincinnati final.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.