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No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz punched his ticket to his first Grand Slam semifinal by toppling No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday in New York.
The 26-year-old from California had advanced to four Grand Slam quarterfinals since 2022 and never pushed into the next round before Tuesday's triumph in front of an American crowd that was behind him all the way.
"I feel amazing. I've had a lot of looks at quarterfinals over the past couple of years, but today felt different," Fritz said in the on-court interview. "It felt like it was my time to take it a step further, and it's only fitting that I'm doing it in front of this crowd."
If No. 20 seed Frances Tiafoe defeats No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in Tuesday's other quarterfinal match, it would set up an all-American semifinal match with Fritz, ensuring that an American man will advance to the men's final. No American man has won a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open.
Zverev gave Fritz a tough test. The German had more winners (52 to 42), fewer unforced errors (42 to 48) and more aces (14 to 12). He also saved a whopping 11 of 13 break points.
But Fritz overcame that by controlling the first- and fourth-set tiebreakers. The players held serve throughout both sets; Zverev saved triple set point in the 12th game of the first set and went on to tie it 6-6.
Fritz fell behind 2-1 in the first-set tiebreaker before rattling off six straight points to win the set. After Zverev won the first break point of the match late in the second set, Fritz took the third set, even as Zverev saved another four set points in the final game.
Fritz sped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth-set tiebreaker and never looked back.
He said in his on-court interview that he has valued becoming more than just a player with a big serve.
"I've worked on adding so much to my game," Fritz said. "I feel like my forehand and backhand have kind of always been there, but I'm trying to come to the net a little bit, trying to mix in some drop shots, just trying to add stuff to my game so I can back up my serve in better."
Tiafoe made it to the semifinals in New York in 2022 and the quarterfinals last year. Dimitrov is seeking his fourth career Grand Slam semifinal and second at the U.S. Open (2019).
More must-reads:
- Injury forces Grigor Dimitrov to retire, Frances Tiafoe through to U.S. Open semis
- Emma Navarro reaches first Grand Slam semifinal at U.S. Open
- The 'NFL all-time touchdown receptions leaders' quiz
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