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Frances Tiafoe attributed his heartbreaking five-set loss in the US Open semi-finals to Taylor Fritz to cramps after his “body failed.”
Tiafoe led twice in the match, but the final set lasted only 27 minutes, during which he suffered three breaks and collected only nine points.
“I was definitely the better player tonight. I kept having cramps in the fourth set. I felt like my body had just failed,” said Tiafoe, ranked 20th in the world, after his 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat.
While Fritz celebrated becoming the first American to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Roddick in 2009, Tiafoe suffered his second US Open semifinal loss in his last three appearances.
In 2022, he lost another five-set victory to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
“It probably had a lot to do with nerves. I wasn’t tired at all,” Tiafoe said.
“The closest I came to winning was obviously when I played against Alcaraz. I fought for my life to score five points. Here I was really in a position to win. I surpassed myself and I promise that this will not happen again.”
Fritz, ranked 10th in the world, will face top seed Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final, having never before reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
He will try to become the first American to win a Grand Slam title since Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
“It was a crazy game. It was all about dealing with the situation and the pressure,” said Fritz.
“He played at such a high level in the third and fourth sets. It was about staying with it, withstanding the pressure and hoping that the mistakes would come at some point. In the end, that’s what happened.”
This year’s US Open was a wide open, with four-time champion Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz eliminated in the first week.
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev also missed the semifinals.
DJ/RCW
