History was made at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was led by Frances Tiafoe, America’s new heroine.
He posed a major threat to No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, overwhelming the favored player to orchestrate an upset into the semifinals.
This means that the USA is guaranteed a man in a major final for the first time since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon since 2009.
In what was initially a close match, Tiafoe defeated Dimitrov in four sets 6:3, 6:7, 6:3, 4:1 within three hours and four minutes after the Bulgarian had to abandon his match due to injury.
At 4:3 in the third set, Dimitrov noticeably slowed down his pace, occasionally grabbed his left thigh and walked very carefully between points.
He struggled to defend himself and two unforced errors gave Tiafoe the set.
He had hoped it would go through, but Dimitrov pulled the plug five games into the final set.
With the victory, Tiafoe reached the third Grand Slam semifinal of his career and will face fellow American Taylor Fritz on Friday, who had previously defeated number 4 Alexander Zverev on Friday.
The duel between Tiafoe and Fritz will be the first All-American men’s singles semifinal at a Grand Slam since Andre Agassi and Robby Ginepri faced each other in Flushing in 2005, with Agassi emerging victorious.
“I’ve been playing against him since I was 14. To be able to play against him in one of the biggest games and on the biggest stage in the world will be amazing,” Tiafoe said about the match against Fritz.
