Francis Tiafoe becomes first American to reach US Open men’s semifinal since 2006
It became Tiafoe Stadium in the second-set tiebreaker — a masterpiece seven-point segment that could earn a place of honor in the annals of U.S. Open history.
Francis Tiafoe reeled off a service winner on the first point, later belting two consecutive aces at 134 and 145 mph, respectively, to go up 5-0.
When the carnage was over, after a pair of drop-shot volley winners, Tiafoe had shut out Andrey Rublev, 7-0, to go up two sets to none on the way to American men’s tennis history.
After each point in that tiebreaker, Tiafoe either shook his fist frantically, shook his head animatedly or waved his arms to pump up the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd of 24,800 to a louder volume.
Not that it could get any louder. They had come for Serena Williams, for Coco Gauff and now, the last American man standing, Tiafoe.
The 24-year-old from the Washington suburbs became the first American men’s player to advance to the U.S. Open semifinals since 2006 as he took out the ninth-seeded Russian Rublev, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-0), 6-4.
“Best tiebreaker I will ever play,’’ Tiafoe said. “There was no breaks. I’m like, man, this is definitely a big breaker. The first point. I served. I was like, ‘I’m just going to try to hit the serve as hard as I can up the T, see what happens.’ I got the first point. Yeah, things just started happening. It was honestly a laughable tiebreaker. You can’t make that up. It was a kick of a breaker.’’
The last American male to get this far in Flushing was Andy Roddick, who was on hand for this momentous occasion. Tiafoe, who upset Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16, will face the Carlos Alcaraz, who outlasted Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3 in a thrilling 5 hour, 15 minute match in the night session.
After he served an ace on match point, Tiafoe executed a dance move with his arms, mimicking rapper 2 Milly.
“This is wild, crazy, biggest win of my life 24 hours ago and coming back with this,” said Tiafoe, who didn’t get broken all match. “This court is unbelievable. I feel at home. Let’s enjoy this one, but we’ve got two more.”
The men’s semifinals will take place Friday, and Tiafoe will have the home-court advantage. An American male hasn’t won this thing since 2003, when Roddick took the title.
“I was way more comfortable coming out today than when I was playing Rafa,’’ Tiafoe said. “Uphill battle. Geez, can I get this done? Today I felt really comfortable and it showed in my performance.’’
Neither Tiafoe nor Rublev could muster a break in the first two sets, leading to a tiebreaker each time. Tiafoe dominated the first-set tiebreaker, 7-3. That became a 14-3 edge for Tiafoe during the pressure cooker of the second-set tiebreak and he moved to 6-0 in the tournament in tiebreaks.
Since bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old, he had never been able to sustain such fortitude in a major — perhaps because of a lack of mental and physical fitness.
Wayne Ferreira, his coach, said after the win his issue was about “investment in matches.’’
“We have been working a lot in the last couple of months on the mental side, about trying to deal with the big, important situations,’’ Ferreira said. “He’s achieved them exceptionally well. The ball striking has been good for the last couple of months. That’s been something that’s been good for us. It’s just finishing off matches.’’
This was a landmark moment for American men’s tennis. Tiafoe became the first American male to make the semifinal of a major since John Isner in 2018 at Wimbledon. His Open ride has caught the attention of LeBron James, and Tiafoe’s buddy, Bradley Beal of the Wizards, sat in his player’s box for a second straight match.
“Awesome, amazing,’’ Beal said afterward.
Rublev is a hot-tempered player and showed it, violently slamming the racket against his knees, having to swap it out during the 7-0 tiebreak slaughter. Rublev looked near tears during one third-set changeover.
Tiafoe has been an up-and-comer for eight years and now he’s finally arrived, though he admitted to messiness, saying his “hotel room is a disgrace.’’ But that’s the only thing that isn’t perfect right now for Tiafoe.
