Friday night’s electrifying All-American semifinal match at Arthur Ashe Stadium guaranteed that either Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe would reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
This also ensured that one of them had to be eliminated so that their compatriot could advance and compete in the US Open final on Sunday against number 1 seed Jannik Sinner.
The American-born player who was eliminated from the tournament was the 20th-seeded Tiafoe, who squandered a 2-1 lead and lost to Fritz in five sets, ending his impressive push for the first major title of his career.
“Oh man. This is tough. Really, really tough to swallow. This is going to hurt,” said the 26-year-old Tiafoe. “I thought I was definitely the better player tonight.”
“But you have to take your hat off to Taylor. He persevered, he fought, he deserved it tonight. All the best to him in the final.”
Fritz, who has improved his career-long record against Tiafoe to 7-1, quickly took a 3-0 lead before the crowd had even taken their seats for the evening session, including breaking his opponent’s first service game.
But Fritz dropped the next five games, including twice on his serve, before Tiafoe won the first set 6-4. A bad miss from Fritz on set point sailed over Tiafoe’s head into the front rows of seats beyond the baseline.
The 1.95 meter tall Fritz only allowed one of 23 points on his serve and ended the second set 7:5, thus equalizing the match.
But Tiafoe quickly ended that streak with a break in the first game of the third set, taking a 6-4 deciding victory and a 2-1 lead.
Tiafoe seemed headed for nothing worse than a fourth-set tiebreaker with a chance to advance, but trailing 4-5, he made two double faults, botched a backhand and sunk a drop shot into the net, allowing Fritz to force a decisive fifth set.
“At the end of the day, it was a great night to see two Americans compete,” Tiafoe said. “In the fourth (set), I don’t know, I kept getting cramps. I felt like my body just gave out.”
From then on, Tiafoe’s suddenly weak serve continued to be his undoing and he made two more double faults that allowed Fritz two breaks in the fifth set to take a 4-0 lead before winning 6-1.
“Of course I wanted to try again, right? It was the fifth set in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament. You have to give it your all,” said Tiafoe. “Sometimes it’s just not meant to be.”
