Taylor Fritz snapped a six-game run against a struggling and frustrated Frances Tiafoe to win 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in an all-American clash at the US Open on Friday night to reach his first Grand Slam final.
The turning point victory of the number 12 seed Fritz against number 20 Tiafoe – the two 26-year-olds are close friends and have known each other since they competed in tournaments for children under 14 – gave him a showdown for the championship against number 1 Jannik Sinner on Sunday.
Fritz will be the first American to reach a major final since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009. And if he can beat Sinner, Fritz would be the first American to win a Grand Slam title since Roddick won it at the US Open 21 years ago.
After a 4-4 fourth set on Friday, Fritz took control when Tiafoe’s strokes and his usual confidence deserted him. After a double fault that gave him a break for 4-0 in the fifth set, Tiafoe threw his racket away after more than three hours of play. Fritz returned the favor by double faulting the next game, but broke again immediately and it was soon over.
Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian who was cleared of a doping case less than three weeks ago, completed a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over No. 25 Jack Draper on Friday, with both competitors receiving simultaneous treatment from trainers toward the end of the hour-and-a-half-long second set.
“It was a very physical match, as we can see,” said Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January. “I just tried to stay there mentally.”
His left wrist was massaged after he fell during a point he could have won; Draper required medical attention after vomiting twice in a match in temperatures of around 25 degrees and humidity of over 60%. During that stoppage of play, a vacuum cleaner was used to clean the floor behind the baseline, finishing the cleanup job that Draper, a 22-year-old Brit, attempted to do himself by wiping off his, er, mess with a towel.
Aside from the actual game, there was no such drama in the Tiafoe-Fritz duel and the spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium could have been forgiven for not knowing who to cheer for in the first semi-final between two Americans in New York in 19 years.
