By HOWARD FENDRICH
Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz won an all-American semifinal at the U.S. Open on Tuesday, ensuring the host nation has a men’s finalist at its Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2006.
Seeded No. 20, Tiafoe reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the second time in three years when his quarterfinal opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, retired with an injury in the fourth set. Tiafoe was leading 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 4-1 when Dimitrov retired.
Hours earlier, Fritz had seen a last errant forehand from his higher-ranked and more accomplished opponent land wide, dropped his neon-colored racket, clenched both fists and shouted, “Come on!”
Fritz pulled himself together and gathered his gear, walked to the net to hug No. 4 Alexander Zverev, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, then walked to the center of Arthur Ashe Stadium, spread his arms and shouted again, “Come on!”
After years of climbing the rankings, becoming the top American in tennis, coming close to breaking through at one of the four biggest events in his sport, Fritz finally managed to prevail on home soil, beating Zverev 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach a major semifinal for the first time.
Fritz, the 12th seed and 26-year-old from California, entered the day with a 0-4 record in Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Dimitrov, the No. 9 seed, had played a five-set match in the fourth round and appeared to run out of steam late in the third set against Tiafoe, grabbing his left thigh and walking gingerly between points. After that set, Dimitrov was visited by a trainer and then headed to the locker room for treatment.
He returned to the court for the start of the fourth set but was unable to move properly and eventually retired.
The Fritz-Tiafoe semifinal – “it could be crazy,” Fritz said – is the first between two Americans at a major tournament since 2005, when Andre Agassi beat Robby Ginepri in New York. No American has won a Grand Slam singles trophy since Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open; Roddick was the last American to reach the U.S. Open final, losing to Roger Federer in 2006.
The other men’s quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday: No. 1 Jannik Sinner against No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, and No. 10 Alex de Minaur against No. 25 Jack Draper.
In the women’s competition, No. 13 Emma Navarro of the United States reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by winning the last six games in a 6-2, 7-5 victory over No. 26 Paula Badosa and will next face No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
