American Taylor Fritz Earns Career-Changing Win To Reach U.S. Open Semifinals

Taylor Fritz had appeared in four previous Grand Slam quarterfinals without ever breaking through to the Final Four.

In a day and age when Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and, now, Jannik Sinner are hoarding all the major titles, it was fair to wonder if the 26-year-old California native would ever break through.

But No. 12 Fritz, the top-ranked American man, earned a career-changing victory with his 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) win over No. 4 Alexander Zverev on Tuesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach his first major semifinal.

Fritz had lost in the quarters at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this season, but in this encounter he banged out 12 aces and controlled many of the biggest points from the baseline for his fourth Top 10 win at a major this season.

“I feel amazing,” he told Nick Kyrgios on court. “I’ve had a lot of looks at quarterfinals over the past couple of years and today just felt different. I really felt like it was my time to take it a step further and it’s only fitting I’m doing it here on this court at the Open in front of the crowd.”

Fritz will have a legitimate shot to make the final, too, when he faces either No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, his fellow American, or No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov on Friday. The last time two American men played in the semis of a major was when Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri in the 2005 U.S. Open semis.

Ben Shelton last year was the most recent American man to reach the semis at his home Slam, while it’s been 21 years since the last American man, Andy Roddick, won the title in 2003.

“I know the crowd would really want to see me and Frances so we get an American in the final,” Fritz said.

“That could be crazy. I guess we’ll see what happens, but either way I’ll be ready to go.”

Zverev, a two-time major finalist, had his own designs on getting to another Slam final after Djokovic, the No. 2 seed and 24-time major champ, was ousted from his half of the draw in the third round.

As it stands, the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal between No. 1 Sinner and No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, the only two major winners remaining in the men’s draw, will be the tournament favorite.

Fritz’s victory followed another big one for an American, as Emma Navarro reached her first major semifinal with a straight-sets win over Paula Badosa. Navarro had previously taken out defending champion Coco Gauff in the third round.

In the first set, Fritz had triple-set point with Zverev serving at 5-6, 0-40, but the German fought back and held serve to force a tiebreak.

In the breaker, Fritz earned a mini-break for 4-2 with a forehand approach followed by a swinging volley winner. Zverev then sailed a forehand deep to go down 2-5.

Fritz served it out on his racket with an overhead smash.

In the second set, Fritz shanked a forehand on break point at 3-4, 30-40 to give the German a 5-3 lead. With Zverev serving on set point, Fritz over-hit a forehand deep and the match was tied at one set apiece.

In the third set, Fritz broke Zverev on the third set point when the German hit a double-handed backhand into the net.

In the fourth set, Fritz earned a mini-break for 2-1.

He rushed the net and punched a forehand volley winner to go ahead 5-2 on Zverev’s serve.

With Zverev serving at 3-6 on triple-match point, the German sailed a forehand wide and the match was over. The two foes embraced at net.