The last time an American man played in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 2009, where Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer. Andy Roddick is also the last American man to win a Grand Slam title, which he did at the 2003 US Open. This will all change on Friday with Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe meeting each other at this years US Open semifinal.
Taylor Fritz (No. 20) defeated Alexander Zverev (No. 4) earlier today in four sets 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to make his first grand slam semifinal. Going into this match Fritz had an 0-4 quarterfinal record at Grand Slam tournaments and was able to pull away in the first and fourth set tiebreaker.
Frances Tiafoe (No. 20) defeated Grigor Dimitrov (No. 9) in the night match after Dimitrov retired due to an injury in the fourth set. Tiafoe was leading 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 4-1 when Dimitrov retired. This will be Tiafoe’s second career US Open semifinal in three years.
The semifinal between Fritz and Tiafoe will be the first All-American men’s semifinal at a grand slam since Andre Agassi and Robby Ginepri at the 2005 US Open. Fritz currently leads the head-to-head matchup against Tiafoe 6-1, having won their last six meetings. His only loss to Tiafoe came in 2016.
Both Fritz and Tiafoe have been playing their best tennis all season in the past few weeks, and this semifinal will be the most important match of their careers.