LEGENDARY

Frances Tiafoe Becomes First American Player to Reach U.S. Open Semis Since 2006

“This is wild, crazy, biggest win of my life 24 hours ago and coming back with this,” said Tiafoe.

Frances Tiafoe has become the first mens singles player to make it to the U.S. Open semifinals in the last 16 years. Arthur Ashe Stadium was in an uproar Wednesday as the 24-year-old underdog surged past Russian Andrey Rublev in a series of nerve-wracking tiebreakers, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4. “This is wild, crazy, biggest win of my life 24 hours ago and coming back with this,” said Tiafoe on the court, following thunderous applause. He made it this far by upsetting Spain’s champion player, Rafael Nadal. “I feel so at home on courts like this. This court is unbelievable, you guys get so far behind me. I wanna play, I wanna give my best. We got two more.” The last American man to make it to this point of the championship was Andy Roddick. Friday’s match against either Carlos Alcaraz or Jack Sinner will determine if Tiafoe sets another milestone.