He’s been circling around for a while. Quarter-finalist in four of the last five Grand Slams, Taylor Fritz had never reached this milestone. Now he has, thanks to his victory on Tuesday at the US Open against Alexander Zverev (7-6) [2]3-6, 6-4, 7-6 [3]). For his first time in the semi-finals of a Major, he will face the winner of the match between Grigor Dimitrov and Frances Tiafoe, scheduled in a night session on the Arthur-Ashe.
Between two players who rely on great power in service, the first act was almost logically played in the deciding game. More enterprising (he also obtained the only break point of this set), Fritz dominated this tie-break against an opponent placed very far from his baseline and who suffered the game more than he dictated. A strategy that seems to have been assumed but which was not always frankly convincing, like this first act left to the American.
A standing ovation for Fritz
The two men then delivered a strange duel where the dynamics of the moment could change the next moment due to a common inconsistency in the game. Untouchable on his service games until then, Fritz thus gave up his serve at 4-3 in the second set on his first break point to defend and saw the German come back to a set all in the process.
The momentum was then on the side of the world number 4, who offered himself a break point upon returning to the court… only to miss his opportunity and drop the first three games of this set to the American. The 26-year-old player seemed to have regained the lead? Zverev caught up and controlled this third set before delivering a catastrophic serve at 5-4 in favor of his opponent. Two forehands into the net and a long return that surprised him offered three set points to Fritz who was very timid before managing to conclude on his fifth opportunity on a new unforced error from his rival.
From there, the American was more the boss on the court. And even if he wasted opportunities during the set, he kept his momentum in the deciding game where he broke away 4-1, then 5-2 before wrapping up the story at 7-3. As at Wimbledon where he came back from two sets to nothing, the world number 12 got the better of his rival and continued his journey at home. This was well worth a standing ovation from the main court at Flushing Meadows, which saluted its favorite as it should be. For Zverev, it is another missed opportunity in a Grand Slam with the premature defeats of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
