Taylor Fritz outlasted and ultimately outlasted fellow American Frances Tiafoe to become the first American to reach the men’s final since Andy Roddick.
He will face world number 1 Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final.
Of the current crop of American talent, Tiafoe among them, Fritz was the worst as a junior. A bit gangly, a bit clumsy, it took him time to develop his game, but he has progressed steadily and has now surpassed them all.
Serve and forehand are the pillars of his game, but his movement is deceptively good. He is fit and focused and, despite Tiafoe’s ups and downs, he stayed on course to win 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
There was a lot at stake for the pair of 26-year-olds. Both men were attempting to reach their first Grand Slam final, where they would have the chance to become the first American to win this title since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Taylor Fritz is into the US Open final after beating fellow American Frances Tiafoe on Friday
Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, was attempting to become the first African-American to reach the final here since the stadium’s namesake icon, Arthur Ashe. He last reached the final here in 1972 and won it in 1968.
The sight of Sinner backstage with an ice pack strapped to his left wrist after injuring it in beating Jack Draper added an extra sense of possibility to this match: will the Italian be at his best in the final?
Among the semi-finalists, this was top server Fritz against top returner Tiafoe. David Witt, former coach of women’s finalist Jessica Pegula, joined Tiafoe’s team and returning has been his area of focus. He has modified his pupil’s grip on the return to allow her to hit with her forehand, rather than simply block the ball.
That was key to his victory here: Tiafoe forced Fritz to play enough longer points that eventually his superior athleticism and on-court skill could come to the fore.
Fritz took a 3-0 lead, but Tiafoe settled and won six of the next seven games to take the set.
Until 4-5 in the second set, when Tiafoe served, there was no hint of a break: only three points had been scored against him. Fritz earned the first break point of the match (and a set point) after the match exchange, which ended with Tiafoe jumping over the advertising board and running into the photographers’ pit.
Fritz outlasted Tiafoe (right) in a five-set all-American battle at Flushing Meadow
He had to overcome a 2-1 deficit to prepare for a final showdown with Jannik Sinner.
Fritz consoled Tiafoe at the net after their memorable encounter in New York on Friday night.
Tiafoe waved to the crowd as he left the court after being eliminated again in the semi-finals.
Tiafoe escaped, but at 5-6 Fritz played a brilliant return game and broke at love, assisted by a double fault from Tiafoe, to level the match.
After all those holds, there were two breaks in a row, when Tiafoe fired a forehand down the line to take an instant lead in the third set.
It continued like this throughout the third set, but towards the end of the fourth everything changed.
Tiafoe played a miserable match, losing serve and never recovering. Fritz went 4-0 up and Tiafoe threw his racket in disgust. In the third and fourth sets, Tiafoe won 11 points and six games in a row.
He recovered a bit from there, but Fritz has nerves of steel and closed it out.
He may not be the most talented of the American crew, but he probably has the best work ethic and that counts for a lot in this sport. He’s in for the match of his life and he’ll have to play the match of his life to defeat Sinner.