Fritz thwarts Tiafoe to become first U.S. Open finalist in 18 years

After an agonizing comeback, Taylor Fritz won an all-American battle against Frances Tiafoe on Friday and will be the first home tennis player in the U.S. Open men's final since Andy Roddick in 2006.

The Californian player came from two behind to win 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and set up a date in his first Grand Slam final against world number one Italian Jannik Sinner.

A win for Fritz on Sunday would be the first for American men's tennis at the U.S. Open since 2003, when Roddick himself lifted the title in New York.

"This is the reason why I do this, why I work so hard! I'm in the U.S. Open final!" celebrated Fritz, his voice cracking with emotion.

Tiafoe, who had the majority support of the 23,000 fans at Flushing Meadows, seemed to have the match under control until he made two double faults that handed the fourth set to Fritz on a platter.

The charismatic African-American player, who had lost six of his seven duels to Fritz, did not recover from the blow and was out of a historic final for the host country.

"He overwhelmed me a little bit at the beginning and I got a little bit scared," Fritz admitted. "I did everything I could to stay in the match. If I hadn't, I would have regretted it for a long time."

Although the precedents were unfavorable to him, Tiafoe had the experience of the 2022 semifinals, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz, while Fritz was making his debut in the top four of a major tournament.

Fritz struggled to take the match to his ground against Tiafoe's superior firepower.

The Californian, who had just defeated one of the contenders, Germany's Alexander Zverev, broke in the last game of the second set to level the score.

But an astute Tiafoe took advantage of that moment of relief to start the third set with another break that he managed until the end.

The final set was again evenly matched until Tiafoe's dramatic short-circuit that, with two balls to tie it 5-5, he committed two double faults in a row and two unforced errors to give the set to Fritz.

Tiafoe did not recover from the blow and collapsed physically in the last set against his friend and generational partner.