NEW YORK-. Taylor Fritza 26-year-old Californian, and Frances Tiafoe, the same age and born in Maryland, entered the Arthur Ashe court to play the first semifinal of the US Open between two Americans in 19 years.
Understandably, the public didn’t know who to root for on Friday.
There was some applause after the opening point. As the balance of the match tipped in one direction or the other, the situation became more complicated for the spectators who were looking for a favourite between two tennis players who know each other very well.
Fritz eventually won six games in a row against a frustrated and crumbling Tiafoe to beat him 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a duel that put him into the US Open final.
Fritz, seeded 12th, will be contesting his first Grand Slam title match.
He did it in a duel against Tiafoe (20th), in which each opponent had good moments. It was a confrontation between 26-year-old tennis players who are good friends and who have known each other since they played in tournaments for under-14s.
Fritz’s reward will be a match against world number one Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday.
The last time an American appeared in a major final was in 2009, when Andy Roddick lost the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer. If Fritz can beat Sinner, he will be the first American to win a major since Roddick won the US Open at age 21.
“It’s the reason I do this,” Fritz said, his voice breaking. “It’s the reason I’ve worked so hard.”
Sinner recorded a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Jack Draper to advance to the US Open final for the first time in his career and to a Grand Slam title match for the second time this year.
The Italian had the better of a match in which both rivals required medical treatment on a wet afternoon.
Sinner, 23, who was cleared of a doping case less than a week before the tournament, needed a massage on his left wrist during a change of court. He fell during a point he won in the second set.
“It was a very physically demanding match, as we could see,” said Sinner, who is right-handed but uses two hands for backhand shots and was still flexing his wrist after the injury. “I just tried to keep my mindset in the match.”
During the same break, Britain’s 22-year-old Draper, seeded 25th, received medical attention. He had vomited twice on court during breaks between points.
While both competitors were being treated, a vacuum cleaner was used to clean the green behind the baseline where Draper had vomited. The workers thus finished a job that Draper himself had started by wiping the court with a towel.
The image brought to mind that of Pete Samras, who had similar problems during a victory over Alex Corretja during the 1996 US Open.
It was, to say the least, an unusual scene at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where temperatures were above 25 degrees Celsius, with humidity above 60%.
Sinner won the Australian Open in January. She will go for her second major title on Sunday against either an American, 12th-ranked Taylor Fritz, or 20th-ranked Frances Tiafoe.
“No matter who it is, it’s going to be a challenge for me,” he said.
