Taylor Fritz Wins All-American U.S. Open Semifinal, Heads To First Major Final

When good buddies Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe met in the all-American semifinal at the U.S. Open Friday night, one of them was going to end up playing for a Grand Slam championship while the other was going to be bitterly disappointed.

“It’s the biggest match of me and Taylor’s life,” Tiafoe said on court after his quarterfinal win.

In the end, No. 12 Fritz was fresher at the end and prevailed over No. 20 Tiafoe in five sets, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Arthur Ashe Stadium, to reach the first Grand Slam final of his career. Fritz improved to 7-1 against Tiafoe.

“It’s a dream come true, I’m in the finals so I’m going to come out and give everything I possibly I have,” an emotional Fritz told Chris Eubanks on court.

The 26-year-old Californian will have his hands full against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final. The two have split their two career meetings.

Sinner, 23, is bidding for his second major title this year after winning the Australian Open. After falling to the Italian in straight sets in the first semifinal, Britain’s Jack Draper was asked to name a weakness in Sinner’s game.

“He doesn’t have many, Mate,” Draper said.

Fritz is the first American man in a Slam final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009, and the first at the Open since Roddick in 2006. Roddick remains the last American man to win a major at at the Open in 2003.

Tiafoe, a semifinalist in New York in 2022, was bidding to become the first Black American man to play in a major final since 1996. Arthur Ashe, for whom the stadium is named, won the U.S. Open in 1968 at Forest Hills, and is the last Black man to win a major at Wimbledon in 1975.

In the women’s final on Saturday, American No. 6 Jessica Pegula will face No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

It’s the first time since 2002 that the men’s and women’s draws at the Open feature an American finalist. Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi in an all-American men’s final, while Serena Williams defeated older sister Venus in an all-American women’s final.

In the decisive fifth set, Tiafoe’s energy level dropped and he struggled with his serve. Fritz broke him for a 2-0 lead and then served a 131 mph ace for 3-0. Tiafoe then double-faulted to fall behind 0-4.

Fritz gifted the break back with a double-fault of his own for 4-1. But he served it out with a 117-mph ace to win it and then raised his hands in celebration.

As Tiafoe left the court, the crowd cheered.

“Oh, man,” Tiafoe said. “It’s tough. It’s really, really tough. Really, really tough to swallow. This one’s gonna hurt really, really bad.

“I mean, I thought I was the better player for sure tonight. In the fourth, I don’t know, just had some in-and-out cramps. I just felt like my body just kind of shut down on me.

“I don’t know. Like, probably had a lot to do with nerves. I wasn’t tired at all. Just, to get into the final, probably the closest I was obviously when I played [Carlos] Alcaraz I was kind of hanging for dear life to go five. Here I was really in a position to win, to see ahead, was almost able to be in that position.”

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. Guy Fritz was a pro tennis player who never got higher than No. 301 in the world, while his mother, Kathy May, won seven WTA singles titles, and achieved a career-high ranking of world no. 10 in 1977.

Tiafoe seemed nervous to start and fell behind a quick break at 0-3, but then rattled off five of the next games — including two breaks of Fritz — to take the first set when Fritz sailed a forehand over Tiafoe’s head and into the stands.

In the second set, after failing to convert a break point with Tiafoe serving at 4-5, Fritz broke his fellow American at love at 5-6, putting away a backhand volley winner and then punching the air in celebration.

In the third set, Tiafoe got down 0-30 while serving for the set at 5-4, but Fritz let him off the hook and sailed a backhand wide on set point as the crowd roared.

In the fourth, Tiafoe attempted a risky forehand drop shot on set point and it hit the net, sending the match to a fifth set.

Now it is Fritz, and not Tiafoe, who is into his first Slam final. But Tiafoe thinks this year paved the way for Americans to win it, maybe this Sunday, maybe another Sunday.

“I think it opened the floodgates for sure,” he said. “I think guys are gonna start believing they can go deep in slams. Tommy [Paul] has already made semis of slams, Ben [Shelton] as well, obviously him beating me last year here in the quarters. Fritz, now he’s made the finals. None of us younger guys have done that.

“See what happens on Sunday, but I think a lot of guys are going to be able to think they can do it.”