“Rafa and these cats ain’t getting any younger, you know what I’m saying?”
Frances Tiafoe dropped that gem at the 2019 Australian Open after a quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal ended what was, until this US Open, his best Grand Slam run. The American's lopsided defeat against a then-32-year-old Nadal was followed by another straight-sets loss to Rafa later that year in Madrid.
At the time, 'Big Foe' was "on the come up," as he liked to say. Nearly four years later, the 24-year-old has arrived in New York.
Tiafoe reached his second career major quarterfinal with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win against the 36-year-old Nadal on Labor Day, an occasion he called "the biggest day of my life." It was his first win in three tries against the Spaniard, and his first in seven against the Big Three—Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
"For a while there, I was like, geez. You see all these young guys get Rafa, Fed, Novak. Am I ever going to be able to say I beat one of them?" Tiafoe said following the victory. "Today I was like, 'No, I'm going to do that.'
"So now, it's something to tell the kids, the grandkids: 'Yeah, I beat Rafa.' Hopefully I never play him again, but hope I end with a win," he said with his trademark smile.
In the style of those three icons—63 Slams between them—Tiafoe followed up one huge result with another, downing No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev in three tight sets to advance to his first major semifinal.
Tiafoe has always kept perspective while competing for titles in the Big Three era. Though he has yet to taste Grand Slam glory, the American won his lone ATP title in Delray Beach in 2018, with three tour-level finals since.
But with none of the usual suspects among the US Open semifinalists, the Maryland native senses his opportunity in New York.
"For sure, it put my mind at ease that Nadal is out of the way," he said through a grin, after reaching the final four. "That's a real thing. Everyone is going to be in those first-time situations. People might gag under pressure. People may lift up. You never know what's going to happen. It's going to be a first.
"To have those guys [the Big Three], yeah, that was always a problem. Didn't really matter where you're from, what your name was," he said, playing down the tired narrative regarding the lack of a recent American men's major singles champ. "You ran into those guys, and they just said, 'See ya.'"
While he's not expecting the Big Three to fade away just yet ("Been saying that for how many years now?" he said when reminded of their inevitable retirements), Tiafoe sees the future in this US Open. Apart from his own success, he name-checked "great personality" Carlos Alcaraz—his semifinal opponent—quarterfinalists Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner, and fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
"I don't think it will be a Big Three. It will be like a Big 12," he said of the next generation. "There's a bunch of guys playing great tennis. I think it's good.
"For sure you'll probably have someone who probably will cement and be at the top. That's still kind of happening. We'll see who that person's going to be. It's cool to see a new era."
Tiafoe will hope to usher in that new era by joining 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem and 2021 champ Daniil Medvedev in breaking up the Grand Slam dominance of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer.
At the start of the tournament, the American was content to fly under the radar at his home major. No longer.
"Now that's over, man... There's no dark horse any more," he said, his eyes firmly on the prize.
"We got two more, guys," he told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd after reaching the semifinals. "We got two more."
