Taylor Fritz secured his ticket to his first Grand Slam title match on Friday with a 4:6, 7:5, 4:6, 6:4, 6:1 victory over his American Frances Tiafoe. He is now the first American to reach a major final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.
“That’s why I do what I do. That’s why I work so hard,” Fritz said. “I’m in the final of the US Open.”
Fritz came to Flushing Meadows as the highest seeded American at No. 12. He had never made it past the quarterfinals of a major before this tournament, but now he finds himself on the brink of history. Now he's just one win away He was the first American since Roddick to win a Grand Slam in 2003 at this tournament.
Fritz had the momentum early on Friday and quickly took a 3-0 lead. It seemed like this was going to be a very one-sided match, but Tiafoe started to find his rhythm and the tide turned as he scored two breaks and won the set 6-4.
Fritz started moving better and made the second one much more difficult. Tiafoe was so caught up that he even landed fall into the photographer's drawer as he tries to avoid putting himself in a difficult position with a 5-4 deficit. His attempt failed and Fritz scored the set point at the break with the score at 7:5.
Tiafoe recovered and set the tone by winning the first two games of the third set. It wasn't his best tennis and his serve wasn't as strong as in the second, but he did a good job of getting Fritz going.
“It was really overwhelming,” Fritz said. “I just tried to tell myself to hang in there and fight to hold my serve and put as much pressure on the scoreboard as possible. I told myself, if I don't give everything I have, then just stick with it.” Let's see if his level drops a little, then I would regret it for a long time. I just did everything I could to just stay in it.
The real turning point came in the middle of the fourth set, when Fritz won the rally by 31 shots. That looks like a lot of energy from both players, but Fritz was re-energized while Tiafoe never fully recovered. When the score was 6:4, Fritz took another set break.
In the decisive fifth set, Fritz came out strong when Tiafoe seemed to have run out of energy. Fritz broke Tiafoe twice to take a 4-0 lead. Tiafoe showed some life and responded with a break of her own. However, he had fallen too far behind and didn't have enough energy for the comeback, because Fritz scored the immediate breakback and then served to win the set 6-1.
Fritz will next face world number 1 Jannik Sinner on Sunday. They have only met twice before and tied the series 1-1. Both meetings took place in Indian Wells, so this will be their first meeting at a Grand Slam.
“It’s a dream come true, I’m in the final,” said Fritz. “I'm going to come out and give it everything I've got. I know that for sure.”
