The 2024 US Open semifinals ended a United States derby. Twelfth seed Fritz defeated 20th seed Tiafoe in five sets 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to extend his seven-match winning streak and reach the men's singles final of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, where he will face top seed Sinner.
In the first set, Fritz broke first and held his own two service games to take a 3-0 lead, and then Tiafoe broke twice to take a 5-3 lead and win four straight points on his own serve. In the first ten games of the second set, both sides held serve, with Fritz holding serve in straight sets in the 11th game and a crucial break in the 12th game to win 7-5.
In the third set, Tiafoe broke the tie to take a 2-0 lead and maintained the advantage until the end; In the fourth set, Fritz and Tiafoe fought to a 4-4 draw in the first eight games. In the tenth game, Tiafoe was able to take the match to the deciding set with a 40-15 lead and was broken by Fritz. In the fifth set, Fritz won four games in a row to take a 4-0 lead and won 6-1.
The game was not pretty, the round ball was exchanged, and the ups and downs of both sides were very large. Tiafoe made two double faults in a 40-15 lead at 40-15 in the 4-5 service game in the fourth set, and then hit a forehand fly and a short error to give up the victory. Fritz dragged the match into the deciding set in a daze, and a wave of invisible eggs took the match away.
According to statistics, Fritz made 16 aces, 3 double faults, 58% of the first serve goals, 65% of the second serve wins, 42 winning points and 35 unforced errors; Tiafoe made 50 unforced errors and nine double faults. So many mistakes were the main reason why Tiafoe lost this game.
As a "rich second generation", Fritz finally stopped playing eight in the quarterfinals of the fifth Grand Slam and entered the Grand Slam final for the first time in one go. Fritz also became the first United States player to reach a Grand Slam men's singles final since Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009, the first homegrown player to reach a US Open men's singles final since Roddick in 2006, and the 12th United States male player in the Open era to reach a US Open final. The last time a United States male player won a major was in 2003, when Roddick won the United States Open.
Compared with the lack of highlights of this game, the audience can be described as star-studded, such as United States golf master McIlroy watched the match between Fritz and Tiafoe live. In addition, there are NBA stars Wall, Gordon and Nets owner Joe Tsai, United States women's football team Megan· Anna · Rapinoe, United States actress Joey · Kim and others.