Frances Tiafoe advanced to the US Open semifinals for the second time in three years on Tuesday after Grigor Dimitrov retired with a leg injury in the fourth set. Tiafoe was cruising, and looked to be two games away from winning the match as he was up 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 4-1.
“Obviously it’s not the way I wanted to get through, but obviously happy to get through. Another semifinal here, incredible,” he said during his post-match interview as the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium cheered for him. “It was a really, really high-level match.”
Tiafoe will be taking on Taylor Fritz on Friday in the first all-American semifinal at the US Open since Robby Ginepri faced Andre Agassi in 2005. Both are trying to become the first American man to win a major since Andy Roddick in 2003. An American man hasn’t reached the year’s final major since 2009.
It was clear early in the night just how competitive the match would be. The third game of the first set lasted around 10 minutes, which Dimitrov won to take a 2-1 lead. Tiafoe had not hit any winners yet. However, the American remained calmed and eventually found a good rhythm. He was patient yet aggressive while doing a nice job attacking Dimitrov’s second serve and scored a pair of break points, including one to clinch the set.
Tiafoe took a 2-1 lead in the second set with his first ace of the match, but things started clicking for Dimitrov. An hour went by in the second set and the Bulgarian star had forced a tiebreak. Dimitrov had a 6-3 lead before he got back-to-back double faults to help Tiafoe get back in it util Tiafoe did the same and gave the set to his opponent.
Tiafoe won the next set with Dimitrov not looking 100%. He left the court limping ahead of the fourth and it seemed that would be it for him. He did return but was not looking much better physically.
Tiafoe won the next three games with ease before Dimitrov got on the board. After winning that fourth game, he briefly squatted and seemed to look at his left foot. Tiafoe won the next one and Dimitrov decided it was best to end the match early.
Tiafoe did not do a big celebration while staying respectful to his opponent, but during his post-match interview he did share how excited he is to be able to play Fritz, a longtime friend, in the semifinals.
“It’s the biggest match of me and Taylor’s lives. We’ve known each other for so long … to be able to play him here at the biggest arena, in one of the biggest matches in the world, it’s going to be awesome. I can’t be more excited. I’m going to give everything I got.”
