Fritz rises to the occasion to oust Zverev and reach first U.S. Open semi-final

NEW YORK — American Taylor Fritz prevailed 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) in a gripping slugfest against fourth seed Alexander Zverev at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday to move into the U.S. Open semi-finals for the first time.

The United States have not had a men’s champion on home turf since Andy Roddick 21 years ago and Fritz’s victory over the former runner-up fuelled hopes of an American victor at Flushing Meadows.

Fritz beat German Zverev on grass at Wimbledon in an epic five-setter and this time had the added boost of the home crowd being firmly on his side as the 26-year-old U.S. number one marched into the last four at a Grand Slam for the first time.

“I’ve had a lot of looks at quarter-finals over the past couple of years and today just felt different,” said Fritz, who had fallen at the quarter-final hurdle at majors four times before.

“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 this crowd,” added the 12th seed.

There was little to separate them in the opening set when they traded blows from the baseline.

But when the two towering players approached the net, the fans were thoroughly entertained by a mixture of drop shots and winners as they second-guessed each other.

Zverev found himself in a hole when he was 0-40 down while serving to stay in the set but the German eventually recovered to force a tiebreak.

But Fritz was on the up and as Zverev floundered with his forehand and desperately sought answers from his box, the American took the set with an emphatic overhead smash at the net.

Zverev bounced back with a different racquet, producing one of the shots of the tournament when he fired a return from out wide over the net post that curled back and landed on both the side and base lines, celebrating the point with his arms outstretched.

That put a spring in Zverev’s step and he broke at 4-3 before serving out the set to level the match, but Fritz returned the favour early in the third when he converted his first break point before racing into a 3-0 lead.

Although Zverev clawed his way back, he was once again forced to save set points after some nervous errors before Fritz finally took the third set when the German found the net as the crowd erupted.

With no breaks on offer in the fourth, Fritz got the upper hand in the tiebreak as Zverev once again faltered on crucial points before the American notched one of the biggest wins of his career.

“I did nothing to deserve to win. It’s as simple as that. I played terrible,” an angry Zverev said, adding that his backhand let him down.

“My most reliable shot, the shot that I’m most known for, the shot that you normally wake me up at 3:00 a.m. and I would not miss, was absolutely not there today and I have no words for it. At some point I didn’t know what to do anymore.”

Fritz will play either Bulgarian veteran Grigor Dimitrov or fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals.

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

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