Taylor Fritz overcame the previous wobbles to secure his place in his first grand slam semi-final after defeating Alexander Zverev.
It was a gutless and frustrated attempt from fourth seeded Alexander Zverev to make amends after his defeat to Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon.
With Zverev blaming his backhand for his US Open exit, the exciting times are mounting up for American tennis.
Five American men made it into the ATP’s top 20 for the first since 1997 after Frances Tiafoe’s Cincinnati run.
The two have put on the most convincing attempt to further this success with an all-American semi-final set for Thursday.
Taylor Fritz relishes Grand Slam semi-final debut at the US Open
While Tiafoe reached the last four two years ago, for Fritz this remains uncharted territory, with four defeats in four at the quarter-final stage previously.
As Novak Djokovic stumbled early in New York, the onus was immediately put on someone new to make the leap.
Zverev failed again in the latest episode of such serial underachievement. Flying Fritz refused to let it pass him by however and reflected on his previous lack of success at this stage after the match.
“I think the mental coping that I was doing for it was ‘well every time I was in the quarters I played Djokovic’. That was my way to protect my ego!” Fritz explained in his press conference.
“Then I got a look at Wimbledon where I didn’t play Novak in the quarters. My three quarters before were Novak, Novak and Rafa. And then I got one where I played Musetti and he outplayed me and I lost. And I was like maybe that excuse doesn’t quite work out any more.”
An unlucky run hampered the American’s chances before, but with that obstacle carefully and courageously hurdled over, a determined Fritz has firmly silenced those quarter-final woes.
Taylor Fritz vs Frances Tiafoe – who reaches the US Open final?
A star-studded clash draped in Stars and Stripes is set to light up Arthur Ashe.
Both powerful operators, there will be no shortage of pace as the pair seek to muscle their way into a final on home soil.
Their head-to-head record makes grim reading for Tiafoe fans, with Fritz leading 6-1.
A winless run since 2016, Tiafoe’s booming serve and charismatic swagger has successfully guided him past previous conquerors.
A smart Tiafoe job on Ben Shelton in round three remains the Open’s most thrilling match yet.
Andy Roddick backed Tiafoe to reach the final, and as the last American man to both win a grand slam and reach a US Open final, he surely knows a thing or two about getting there.
Hold on to your hats, get the popcorn ready – this one will be electric.
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