By CNN
—
No American man has won a grand slam singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open – but there is now a chance that drought could end this weekend.
An American man is guaranteed to play in the US Open final – a first for a grand slam singles final since 2009 – after US star Frances Tiafoe advanced to the semifinals. His opponent, world No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, retired with an injury in the fourth set of their quarterfinal with Tiafoe leading, 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 4-1.
He will play fellow American Taylor Fritz in the semifinals on Friday. Fritz, the highest-ranked American man at No. 12, booked his spot in his first major semifinal with a 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win against No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany on Tuesday.
Tiafoe, ranked No. 20 and matching his best result at a major, had a dream run to the US Open semifinals two years ago.
At the 2022 US Open, Tiafoe gave fans hope he might end the US men’s grand slam singles title drought, shocking Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 and upsetting Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals. His run ended in the semifinals, where he fell to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
“Obviously, it’s not the way I want to get through it, but obviously happy to get through,” Tiafoe said on court at Arthur Ashe Stadium after Dimitrov’s retirement. “Another semifinal here. Incredible.”
Fritz and Tiafoe, both 26, will play the first all-American men’s singles semifinal at a grand slam since Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri at the 2005 US Open. Agassi went on to lose to Roger Federer in the final.
“Friday’s going to be one hell of a day,” Tiafoe said.
Roddick is the last American man to reach a major singles final, losing in the 2009 Wimbledon final to Federer, who was in attendance at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night.
Roddick is the last American man to reach a US Open final, finishing runner-up in 2006 – also to Federer.
Before Tuesday, Fritz had previously been 0-4 in major quarterfinals.
“You know, it’s cool I’m in the semis,” Fritz told reporters. “But I very much have the mindset of, you know, the job’s not done, and I keep taking it one match at a time like I’ve been all tournament and focus on the next match ahead of me.
“I’d say I think the way I came out today was different, because I just have been in this situation enough times. I think a question I got asked pretty much every time I lost in my quarterfinals was, what’s it going to take to go further, and the answer I gave was always, just keep putting myself in these situations, and I’ll become more comfortable in these situations and get better.”
Meanwhile, Dimitrov, who at 33 was the oldest man left in the singles draw, was trying to reach his first major semifinal since the 2019 US Open.
He appeared to suffer an injury at the end of the third set, called for the trainer, and he appeared to signal to his team that he was done.
The Bulgarian left the court for treatment and returned for the fourth set. Despite clearly ailing, Dimitrov tried to finish the match before stopping after five games.
It’s the second consecutive grand slam in which he had to retire, bowing out in first set of the round of 16 at Wimbledon against Daniil Medvedev because of a groin injury.
“I think it’s a combination from everything,” Dimitrov, who in the previous round needed three hours, 39 minutes to hold off Rublev in five sets, told reporters on what led to his retirement against Tiafoe.
“Clearly my rehab process is a little bit slower than before. I mean, I felt a couple of things prior (to) the match.
“But again, given all the circumstances … I wasn’t really sure I’d be even able to do, like, as well as I wanted to do. And that’s what I’m saying: I’d take this quarterfinal any time.
“I don’t want to discredit the match that also Frances played. I mean, he also pushed me a lot to try to work extra, so, I mean, definitely deserves the credit.”
