(New York-Flushing Meadows) - World No. 12 Taylor Fritz made it through to his maiden career major semifinal, digging deep to outlast fourth seed Alexander Zverev in a grueling four-set US Open quarterfinal in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday in New York.
Playing in back-to-back US Open quarterfinals, American No. 1 Taylor Fritz built the foundations for a rock solid 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev across three hours and 26 minutes.
In his on-court interview, he said: “I feel amazing. I’ve had a lot of looks at quarterfinals over the past couple of years. Today felt different. I felt like it was my time to take it a step further, and it’s only fitting that I’m doing it here on this court at the Open in front of this crowd.”
Making a career debut at a slam semifinal the 12th seed will play countryman Frances Tiafoe, meaning an American player will battle for the US Open men’s singles title for the first time since 2006 at Flushing Meadows.
On Tuesday night, Tiafoe punched his ticket back into the major’s semifinals, emerging victorious over ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1; the Bulgarian player retired in the fourth set with an injury on his left thigh.
Fritz leads the 20th seed in their head-to-head series 6-1, with all meetings staged on hard court surfaces.
The Match as It Happened
Small margins separated the players for much of a high-quality encounter, in which they split the first two sets before the American player, competing in his fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal, stepped ahead, opening a two-sets-to-one lead in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Building from there, he advanced to the semifinals for the first time in his career, winning 81 percent of points on his first serve and 63 percent of points on his second serve throughout an impressive tennis showing in front of the American fans.
A tight opener went on serve, featuring breathtaking rallies, and as a result, neither player could break the other.
A pivotal moment in the set saw the German saving set points to secure the 12th game, leading to a first-set tiebreaker the American dominated, hitting groundstrokes in the process to wrap it up 7-6(2), winning 88 percent of the points on his first serve.
In the second set, Zverev trailed by a set, and though his backhand was yet to make an entrance, he executed an exquisite forehand winner that went around the net in the fourth game. Immediately, he raised his arms in celebration, probably the point of the tournament, but despite the remarkable efforts, Fritz escaped danger by holding 2-2.
Furthermore, in the eighth game, the Italian Open winner converted the first break in the match and held, sealing a 6-3 win to even the score.
Moving forward, with a clinical display, Fritz combined depth and power to perfection, which proved lethal against his rival.
Nonetheless, the world No. 4, who leads the Tour in wins (55) this year, continued to add pressure, accelerating with his forehand to narrow the gap at 3-3. In the ninth game, he saved set points, rallying from side to side of the court.
Regardless, the Indian Wells former champion surged, regaining consistency to pocket the third set 6-4, only a set away from stepping into uncharted territory.
They went toe-to-toe with their serve in a clinical fourth set as edgy as the opener.
Zverev, competing in his 13th Grand Slam quarterfinal, his fourth in a row at the US Open, served to keep his chances alive in the 10th game, setting level at 5-5 while performing under pressure.
A couple of games later, a fourth-set tiebreaker knocked on the door with the local hope holding his nerve to secure it 7-6(3), booking his ticket into the last four.
He finished with 45 winners to 48 unforced errors, compared to the Hamburg native, 52 and 42, respectively.
Speaking to interviewer Nick Kyrgios, Fritz assessed his performance, outlining: “You know how helpful having a big serve is. But you get to a point where, at the top of the game, your serve comes back a little more, especially against those guys, who are typically pretty good from the ground.”
“I’ve worked on adding so much to my game. 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, adding stuff to my game so I can back up my serve in better.”
Playing in back-to-back US Open quarterfinals - lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic last year - he dominated an opponent who could not find solutions to halt his outstanding campaign on home soil.
Previously, the 8-time titlist earned his third Top 10 win at a major’s level, coming back from a set down to oust eighth seed Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round held on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the fourth seed defeated in-form Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to progress to his fourth consecutive quarterfinal at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Visibly disappointed, during his post-match press conference, Zverev commented: “My backhand, I don’t remember since being on tour hitting my backhand this badly. I was missing shots which were in the middle of the court with no pace, and [I hit the] bottom of the net. Terrible.”
Adding: “My forehand was okay. My serve was okay. But my most reliable shot, the shot I am most known for, the shot that you normally wake me up at 3:00 a.m. and I would not miss, was absolutely not there today, and I have no words for it, to be honest.”
The German survived the four-set test posed by countryman Maximilian Marterer to open his campaign on American soil.
Then, he edged French wild card Alexandre Muller in straight sets, setting a third-round clash he won 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 against Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Louis Armstrong Stadium last Friday.
