American Taylor Fritz defeated fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to reach his first U.S. Open semifinal.
The United States has not had a men’s national champion since Andy Roddick 21 years ago, and Fritz’s win over former runner-up Zverev further fueled hopes that streak will end this year.
Fritz beat Zverev in a five-set epic on the grass at Wimbledon earlier this summer, but this time, with the bonus of a home crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he needed just four sets.
The 26-year-old will now face either Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov or fellow American Francis Tiafoe in the quarterfinals.
There was little between the two players in a tight opening set, with Zverev struggling at 0-40 while serving to stay in the set, but the German eventually recovered to take the match to a tiebreak, which Fritz ultimately won.
Zverev hit back with another racket, firing one of the best shots of the tournament with a forehand from the outside that curled over the net post and rebounded both to the side and off the baseline.
That gave Zverev momentum and he broke at 4-3 to tie the second set while serving, but Fritz converted his first break point early in the third to take a 3-0 lead.
Zverev managed to bounce back but made some nervous errors and had to save another set point before Fritz eventually took the third set.
There were no break chances in the fourth set and Fritz regained the advantage in the tiebreak, but Zverev stumbled again on key points as the American recorded one of the biggest wins of his career.
Fritz: I thought today was my time.
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Taylor Fritz said he feels it’s time to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final after beating Alexander Zverev at the U.S. Open.
“It was a great game,” Taylor Fritz said courtside after the win.
“I’ve been in a lot of Grand Slam quarterfinals over the past few years, but today it felt different. I really felt like it was time to take another step forward.”
“It’s only fitting for me to play on this court at the U.S. Open, in front of this crowd.
“When you get to the top of your game, your serves start coming to you a little bit more, so I’ve been working on adding a lot of elements to my game.
“I’ve been trying to get a little closer to the net, hit some drop shots, add some elements to my game and try to serve a little better.”
Navarro comes from behind in second set to reach semifinals
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Emma Navarro beats Paula Badosa to reach US Open semifinals
Emma Navarro was the other American to taste victory in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, when the 13th seed beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 to reach the final four of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Trailing 5-1 in the second set and just three points away from the final, Navarro won the next four points to stay alive and stunned Badosa by winning 24 of the final 28 points in the match.
Navarro, who beat defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round, won the first set in 29 minutes before 26th-seeded Badosa appeared to be making a comeback in the second.
But Navarro beat the Spaniard in the next game and produced a stunning comeback in the second set to reach the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old becomes just the sixth player in the last 40 years to reach the US Open semifinals without having previously won the main draw, joining Steffi Graf (1985), Venus Williams (1997), Janina Wickmayer (2009), Bianca Andreescu (2019) and Emma Raducanu (2021).
Navarro will next face either No. 2 seed and two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka or No. 7 seed and Olympic gold medalist Chen Qingwen.
Navarro: I felt like she didn’t have the confidence to close out the second set.
Emma Navarro said after her win.
“In the second set things weren’t great, but I just hung in there, hung in there and tried to get her to hit another ball.
“I thought if I could push back a little bit and make her think a little bit with her service games, maybe I could get there again.
“She was up 5-1 and after I brought it back up to 5-2, I felt like she wasn’t entirely confident in her ability to finish the set.
“I just wanted to hang in there and fight. You can’t see the future, but maybe I got a glimpse of it today. Even though I lost the second set, I wanted to set myself up for the third set.”
“Really happy with my performance today and can’t believe I’m in the semifinals. U.S. Open, baby!”
Sabalenka on the offensive
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Highlights from the quarterfinals between Aryna Sabalenka and Qing-Wen Chen
Navarro will next face powerhouse Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian who beat China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-2 to reach her fourth consecutive U.S. Open semifinal.
Sabalenka, last year’s finalist, has reached the semifinals in seven of her last eight Grand Slam tournaments and has won 33 of 36 sets at major tournaments this year.
Sabalenka beat Navarro in the fourth round at the French Open but lost to him on the hard courts at Indian Wells earlier this year.
“She’s a great player,” Sabalenka said. “I watched her matches here and she played great tennis. It’s going to be a great battle for sure and I’m really looking forward to playing her again.”
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Aryna Sabalenka’s answer to getting more support during her semi-final against Emma Navarro was to offer to pay for everyone’s drinks…
What’s on Sky Sports Tennis in September?
- Jasmine Open, Tunisia – WTA 250 (September 9-15)
- Guadalajara Open, Mexico – WTA 500 (September 9-15)
- Korea Open – WTA 500 (September 16-22 – vs. Emma Raducanu)
- Thailand Open – WTA 250 (September 16-22)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched Sky TVstreaming services now The Sky Sports app will also allow Sky Sports customers to watch over 50% more live sport this year, at no extra cost. Find out more here.
