Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe have known each other since they were 14 years old. On Friday, one of them will make history and become the first American to reach a Grand Slam final since 2009.
Legend: Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe duel for a place in the final. Imago/Abacapress
Before the quarterfinals, Frances Tiafoe said something telling. “Why not now? Why not us?” For more than 15 years, the most successful tennis nation in history has been waiting for a men’s Grand Slam finalist. Andy Roddick was the last American finalist at Wimbledon in 2009 – and also the last winner from the USA at the US Open in 2003.
It is now certain that there will at least be one local finalist in New York. Taylor Fritz, number 12 in the world, and Frances Tiafoe, who is ranked eight places lower, will face each other in the semi-finals on Friday. After Daniil Medvedev’s defeat against world number one Jannik Sinner, it is also clear that there will be a new US Open champion.
«New blood in the mix»
Michael Russell, Fritz’s coach, sums up the new situation. “The big three have dominated for so long, now there is new blood in the mix.” Nothing illustrates this better than the misery of American tennis. Since Roddick’s title 21 years ago, an American has reached a Grand Slam final five times: Roddick four times and Andre Agassi once. And all five times they lost to Roger Federer.
Thanks to his victory against Alexander Zverev, Fritz made it through the quarterfinals for the first time at the fifth attempt, but he stressed: “The job is not done yet.” The 26-year-old Californian saw the fact that fellow countrymen like Tommy Paul and Tiafoe had reached the semifinals before him as an incentive. “I was really happy for them,” he explains. “But it also gave me the conviction that I can do the same.”
The biggest game of her life
Fritz and Tiafoe, who is the same age, are looking forward to the semi-final. “It’s going to be popcorn cinema,” says one. “It’s going to be the biggest game of our lives,” says the other. The two have taken very different paths, but know each other very well and have been playing against each other regularly since they were 14 years old.
Program note
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Follow the two semi-finals in New York on Friday evening and Saturday night live on SRF two and in the SRF Sport app.
- 21:00: Jannik Sinner – Jack Draper
- 01:00 am: Frances Tiafoe – Taylor Fritz
Fritz grew up in one of the finest areas near San Diego; one of his great-great-grandfathers was the founder of the luxury department store Macy’s. Tiafoe’s parents, on the other hand, were born in civil war-torn Sierra Leone and came to America as refugees. As a laborer, his father helped build a new tennis center in the state of Maryland and managed to get his sons to train for free. Tiafoe junior’s talent was quickly apparent.
Not against Federer this time
The powerful, well-built server has now established himself in the top 20, but some believe he can take another step. Tiafoe was in the semifinals in Flushing Meadows two years ago and lost in five dramatic sets to the eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz. This experience could speak in Tiafoe’s favor, while the statistics speak in favor of Fritz, who is three months older. He has won the last six direct duels since 2016.
The time is ripe for the next American finalist – and this time the final opponent will not be Roger Federer.
