Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz To Meet In All-American U.S. Open Semifinal
An American man will play for the U.S. Open championship on Sunday.
No. 20 Frances Tiafoe and No. 12 Taylor Fritz will meet in the semifinals on Friday with a chance to play for a major title. The last American man to win a Grand Slam title was Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open in 2003.
It will be the first major semifinal between American men since Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri in five sets at the Open in 2005. No American man has reached a Slam final since Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009, and no American man has played for his home Slam since Roddick at the 2006 U.S. Open.
In both cases, Roddick lost to Roger Federer, who ironically was in Arthur Ashe Stadium to watch Tiafoe defeat No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 by walkover.
“It’s the biggest match of me and Taylor’s life,” Tiafoe, who reached the semis two years ago before losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, said on court.
“We’ve known each other for so long, I’ve been playing against him since the 14s so to be able to play him here at the biggest arena, at one of the biggest matches in the world, is gonna be awesome. I can’t be more excited, I’m going to give everything I got.
“I know we’re too Americans but I hope y’all are with me come Friday.”
Fritz is 6-1 against Tiafoe for their careers.
Both Americans came through the bottom half of the draw where defending champion and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic had been the favorite before being upset in the third round.
Tiafoe, 26, is the son of a former janitor at a Maryland tennis center and couldn’t afford daycare so his kids, including Frances stayed and slept with him in a vacant storage room. That’s where he was first introduced to tennis.
Fritz, also 26, had two parents who came from the tennis world.
