Frances Tiafoe details the ‘unbelievable’ change Taylor Fritz has made which has even surprised him

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Frances Tiafoe has secured a very exciting all-American semi-final meeting with Taylor Fritz at the US Open.

Tiafoe led Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-7(5-7), 6-3, 4-1 in their US Open quarter-final clash, before the ninth seed retired hurt.

It means the 20th seed now takes on fellow American Fritz for a place in the final, with the latter having edged out Alexander Zverev in their quarter-final match.

Tiafoe has been tipped to make the final, but his opponent is on a fine run, with Fritz recently equalling an Andre Agassi record.

The 12th seed produced a superb display to overcome Zverev, having beaten eighth seed Casper Ruud in the fourth round.

Frances Tiafoe shares how Taylor Fritz has changed ahead of their US Open tie

Tiafoe and Fritz will now have to put their friendship to one side when they come face-to-face at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

But it hasn’t stopped the former from praising the latter before their match, with Tiafoe saying of Fritz in his quarter-final press conference: “When I first met him he was an odd cat! He was a different cat. I definitely wasn’t thinking he was going to do what he has done.

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“He has changed his body, unbelievable, he is just really talented. He was like a part time player, he played a couple of times a week.

“He went to normal high school and just a normal kid. But then he started putting more time into it. He was funny when we were younger.

“As we got closer to it and seeing how committed he is and how much he wanted it once we turned pro, I think we all pushed each other to be great.”

Can Frances Tiafoe beat Taylor Fritz to reach the US Open final?

Tiafoe has impressed on the hard court lately, having lost the Cincinnati Open final to Jannik Sinner just before the US Open.

Since then, he has beaten the likes of Dimitrov, Ben Shelton and Alexei Popyrin at Flushing Meadows, right after the Australian had knocked out defending champion Novak Djokovic.

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But the American may just be having unwanted flashbacks ahead of his semi-final, having lost at this stage at the 2022 US Open.

Conversely, that defeat to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz could provide Tiafoe with the motivation to reach a first Grand Slam final.

But Fritz will also be on a high, with the American having just secured his best-ever Grand Slam position with his quarter-final win over Zverev.