US Open: All-American men's semi-final returns to grand slam for first time since 2005
Sep 04, 2024
New York [US], September 4 : For the first time since the 2005 US Open, an all-American men's semi-final will feature at a Grand Slam tournament.
On Friday, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will face off in the US Open semi-finals, ensuring that one of them will advance to their first major final.
The winner will become the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.
Fritz earned his spot in the semi-finals with a hard-fought victory over fourth seed Alexander Zverev, winning 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in the first quarter-final.
Tiafoe followed by setting up a clash with his compatriot after Grigor Dimitrov retired with the score at 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 in their quarter-final match.
The last all-American men's semi-final at a major occurred 19 years ago at the US Open, where Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri in a five-set thriller.
Since then, there have been only two other all-American men's semi-finals, Pete Sampras's victory over Agassi at the 2002 US Open final and Agassi's win against Sampras at the 2000 Australian Open semi-finals.
The winner between Fritz and Tiafoe will advance to Sunday's final, aiming to become the first American man to claim a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open triumph.
Fritz currently holds a 6-1 lead in their head-to-head series, with their most recent encounter last year in Acapulco, where Fritz won 6-3, 6-4.
On the other hand, star Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi conceded defeat against the American duo of Taylor Townsend and Donald Young in the semi-final of the ongoing US Open 2024 tennis mixed doubles event.
The Indo-Indonesian pair were defeated 6-3, 6-4 by the American duo at the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Tuesday. The match lasted for 55 minutes.
Bopanna and Sutjiadi lost the match in straight two sets as they failed to make a comeback in the game even after a strong start.
The Americans started strong against Bopanna-Sutjiadi, winning the first three games of the first set. the Indo-Indonesian pair found their rhythm and tied the set at 3-3. However, Bopanna's opponent earned another break to win the set.
The second set began evenly before the Indo-Indonesian pair stumbled in the fifth game, giving away a crucial break point. The American pair then held onto all their service games to win the set 6-4 and book a berth in the final.
Though Bopanna-Sutjiadi hit four aces and made fewer unforced errors, Townsend-Young's 26 winners proved decisive in the end.
Meanwhile, Townsend-Young will lock horns against Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy in the Championship match.
After the exit of Bopanna from the US Open 2024, India's representation at the final Grand Slam of the year came to an end. This year, the 44-year-old Indian tennis player matched his best mixed doubles result at the US Open, but failed to take it one step higher.