WHAT HAPPENED: Frances Tiafoe matched his best Grand Slam result by advancing to his second US Open semifinal in three years Tuesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. With heavy backing from his home crowd, the American built a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 lead against Grigor Dimitrov before the Bulgarian retired with an upper-leg issue he appeared to aggravate late in set three.
Dimitrov soldiered on in the fourth frame but was clearly hampered and ultimately pulled the plug, cueing muted celebrations as Tiafoe moved on.
“Obviously it’s not the way I want to get through, but obviously happy to get through,” Tiafoe said on court after sharing a warm embrace with Dimitrov. “Another semifinal here. Incredible ... It was a really, really high-level match. I liked where I was at in the third regardless. But obviously, I didn't want it to end like that.”
The result sets an all-American showdown Friday between Tiafoe and his good friend Taylor Fritz, the first all-U.S. men's singles semifinal at a major since 2005. Both men will bid for their first Grand Slam final and the right to become the first American major finalist since 2009 in men's singles.
Tiafoe was dialled in from the start, pushing Dimitrov to deuce in his first three return games and snatching his first break with a volley winner in the fifth game. He continued to pile the pressure on in set two and built a 4-1 lead before Dimitrov began to answer.
Snapping to life with a love hold, Dimitrov then battled through deuce in consecutive games to knot the set at 4-4. Suddenly the ninth seed was the aggressor, and he hit the shot of the match—a flicked backhand pass at full stretch to cap a 15-ball rally—early in the second-set tiebreak. A box-office breaker that began with five winners ended on the opposite end of the spectrum with three double faults: Dimitrov wasted two set points on serve before Tiafoe caught the bug to surrender the set at 5-6.
Set three mirrored set one, with Tiafoe using electric shotmaking to break in the fifth and ninth games. This time, it was a Dimitrov double fault that ended the frame—one of two in that game and 11 in the match.
Having struggled with his upper left leg late in the set, Dimitrov gave the "no mas" sign to his team before leaving the court for treatment. He returned with limited mobility and, after smacking a few more winners, shook Tiafoe's hand after the American eased to a love hold for 4-1.
WHAT IT MEANS: The United States is guaranteed its first men's singles finalist at a major since Andy Roddick met Roger Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon championship. We will find out on Friday night whether that man is Tiafoe or Fritz, who beat Alexander Zverev earlier on Day 9 to reach his first major semifinal.
"You guys get to see me again, against another American, so Friday is going to be one hell of a day," Tiafoe said to huge cheers in Ashe.
Tiafoe trails Fritz 6-1 in their head-to-head series, with Fritz winning their last six meetings and their six most recent sets. But the 20th seed's recent success in New York—where he's now reached two semis and a quarterfinal in three years—will give him every reason to believe he can flip that script and write his way deeper into American tennis history.
“It's different in Ashe,” he said in his post-match presser, looking ahead to the the “epic” encounter.
The matchup will be the first all-American men's singles semifinal at a Grand Slam since Andre Agassi beat Robby Ginepri in that round at the 2005 US Open. The winner will be the first home finalist in the New York men's singles event since Roddick in 2006.
The 33-year-old Dimitrov has now exited each of the last two majors via retirement. After an early slip caused a knee issue against Daniil Medvedev in the Wimbledon fourth round, Dimitrov retired while trailing 5-3 in the first set.
“Honestly, I cannot pinpoint everything,” Dimitrov said when asked for specifics on his US Open injury, noting that he felt discomfort in the leadup to the match. “I need to cool off a little bit and see what the thing is, do all the scans and all that ... I've always pushed myself and my body to the limit, but there comes times where you just have to make an executive decision, and, yeah, I made it today.”
MATCH POINT: Tiafoe joins joins Roddick (10), Agassi (9) and Pete Sampras (5) as the only American men to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals this century.
