The 26-year-old American, who entered the US Open with a quarterfinal record of 0-4, finally made his breakthrough on Tuesday with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fritz, the No. 12 seed, will face either fellow American Frances Tiafoe or Grigor Dimitrov in Friday’s semifinals. It’s been 21 years since Andy Roddick won the US Open, marking the last time an American won a Grand Slam singles title. Roddick was also the last American to reach a final when he lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009.

Fritz has been the top-ranked American for most of the past few years, peaking at No. 5 in early 2003. Some of his previous chances to break through at the Grand Slams have ended in heartbreaking fashion, including a fifth-set tiebreaker loss to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2022 and a five-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti there earlier this year after controlling the early part of the match.

This time, Fritz remained solid and delivered a convincing performance even under pressure. He won 81 percent of the points when he hit his first serve, suffered only four break points in the entire match and remained largely error-free in the two decisive tiebreaks.