Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz secured an all-American semifinal at the US Open, while fellow countrywoman Emma Navarro reached the women’s semifinals, boosting home hopes of winning the title.

Tiafoe, seeded 20th, advanced when 9th seed Grigor Dimitrov sustained an injury in the third set of his quarterfinal and retired in the fourth set at 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 4-1.

Tiafoe also made it to the last four in 2022, while Fritz reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4 and 7-6 (7-3).

With Tiafoe and Fritz meeting on Friday, the United States is assured of a home finalist in the men’s tournament for the first time since 2006, when Andy Roddick was defeated by Roger Federer.

Roddick remains the last American to win a Grand Slam when he won the 2003 US Open.

“I didn’t want to win like that, even though I’m happy to have made it to the semifinals,” Tiafoe said of Dimitrov’s injury.

“It was a very high level match. You will see me against another American, it will be great.”

“It will be the biggest game of our careers.”

An American thriller.

Friday at the cinema. pic.twitter.com/hlqfH4U4EM

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) 4 September 2024

“It’s cool that I’m in the semifinals”

The 33-year-old Dimitrov sought treatment off the court after the third set, but he had to resort to walking pace in the fourth set and his hopes faded.

The Bulgarian declined to comment on the details of his injury after he had to abandon his round of 16 match at Wimbledon in July due to thigh problems.

“I think it’s a combination of everything. I think there’s really no point in talking about it. It’s just the game and I have to keep my head up,” he said.

Zverev’s loss to Fritz means that world number one Jannik Sinner is the only top-four player left in the men’s tournament after the surprise early exits of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

“I have played in quarterfinals at Grand Slam tournaments a few times over the years, so I felt it was time to take a step further,” said 26-year-old Fritz, who hit 12 aces among his 45 winners in his victory.

“It’s cool that I’m in the semifinals. But I think the work is not done yet.”

The German Zverev had tried to reach his ninth Grand Slam semifinal and his third in New York.

“Terrible. Just absolutely terrible of me,” he said of his performance. “I did nothing to deserve the win, it’s as simple as that.”

Badosa regrets “a complete catastrophe”

Meanwhile, New York’s Navarro made it to her first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating Spaniard Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 after recovering from a 5-1 deficit in the second set.

She will face world number two and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-2.

Navarro insisted she always believed she could overcome a 5-1 second-set deficit against New York-born Badosa.

“When it was 5-2, I knew I was going to win in straight sets,” said Navarro, who lost in the first round in her only other two appearances at the tournament.

“I was a total disaster today,” said Badosa after making 35 unforced errors.

Second-seeded Sabalenka needed just an hour and 13 minutes to dismantle the Chinese Olympic champion and arrange a meeting with Navarro before jokingly promising fans free drinks for their support in the match.

The Belarusian lost only four service games throughout the tournament and is therefore the clear favorite to add another major title to her two Australian Open trophies after losing the final in Flushing Meadows to Coco Gauff a year ago.

“If you make it into the top five, everyone will consider you the favorite,” Sabalenka said.

“But as I always say, it’s not about being the favorite, it’s about how hard you’re willing to fight for it.”

Zheng was aiming to become the third Chinese woman to reach the semifinals of the US Open after Li Na in 2013 and Peng Shuai in 2014.

However, she was completely inferior and only managed nine winners.

Zheng said the record-breaking late finish to her round of 16 match, which ended at 2:15 a.m. on Monday, affected her performance. She said she didn’t go to bed until 5 a.m.

“I couldn’t sleep after the game ended at 2:30 a.m. I couldn’t train yesterday because I felt terrible,” Zheng said.

Navarro’s compatriot Jessica Pegula will face number one seed Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Ruthless and flawless 💪@SabalenkaA is back in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/Wyo9nJNiQq

— wta-sports (@WTA) 4 September 2024