MY ACCOUNT
Frances Tiafoe celebrated a “crazy” win after his defeat of Andrey Rublev saw him become the first American man to reach the US Open semi-finals in 16 years.
Tiafoe stunned Rafael Nadal on Monday and followed up that career-high by reaching the last four of a major for the first time on Wednesday.
Ninth seed Rublev, who has lost all six of his grand slam quarter-finals, stood in his way but Tiafoe prevailed 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-0) 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 24-year-old is the first male player from the United States to reach a semi-final at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick in 2006.
Roddick went on to reach the final that year, though fell short of winning a second US Open final as he lost to Roger Federer.
This time around, Tiafoe will face either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, who has a shot at becoming the new world number one.
“This is wild, this is crazy,” world number 26 Tiafoe said after his win.
“I had the biggest win of my life 48 hours ago and coming out and getting another big win. Andrey’s a hell of a player, and to back it up, that’s huge. It’s tough to turn the page, but I did and now I’m in the semis.
“I feel so at home on courts like this. This court is unbelievable. [The crowd] gets so far behind me, I want to play, I want to give my best. I always find a way somehow on this court, I always play some great tennis and I have been. Let’s enjoy this, we’ve got two more.”
Tiafoe might well be the only home hope left for the American crowd to back in New York come the end of play on Wednesday, with Jessica Pegula facing the daunting task of taking on world number one Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles.
