Frances Tiafoe has become the first American man to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since 2006 by beating Andrey Rublev at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night, September 9.
Tiafoe, a 24-year-old ranked 26th in the world, took out the 11th-ranked Russian Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 for his best run ever in a Grand Slam tournament.
The victory came two days after Tiafoe ousted 22-time major champion, Rafael Nadal, becoming the first American born in 1988 to beat Nadal, Novak Djokovic, or Roger Federer at a Slam.
“Had the biggest win of my life 24 hours ago, and coming out and getting another big win — Andrey’s a hell of a player — to back it up, that’s huge growth,” he said.
“Let’s enjoy this one. We’ve got two more, guys. We’ve got two more.”
Andy Roddick was the last U.S. man to get to the semifinals in New York when he lost to Roger Federer in the title match 16 years ago. Roddick also was the last man from the country to win any Grand Slam singles championship, taking the 2003 U.S. Open.
Tiafoe’s first career Grand Slam semifinal will come on Friday against No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 Jannik Sinner.
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