American tennis player Taylor Fritz secured his first spot in the semifinals of a major tournament by defeating the fourth seed, Alexander Zverev, with scores of 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the US Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Fritz expressed his elation, stating, “I’ve had a lot of looks at quarterfinals over the last couple of years and today just felt different. I really felt like it was my time to take it a step further.”
As the 12th seed, this victory marks Fritz’s fourth win over a top-10 ATP player in a major this season, a feat unmatched by any American man since Andre Agassi’s five wins in 1999. Prior to this season, Fritz had not won any match against top-10 players in majors, holding an 0-11 record.
Fritz previously faced Zverev, the 2020 US Open runner-up, in a dramatic five-set match at Wimbledon. This time, he benefited from the support of a home crowd, joining fellow American players Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Ben Shelton as active men who have reached major semifinals.
Tiafoe has the potential to create another opportunity for U.S. representation in the semifinals when he takes on ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the evening session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. If Tiafoe wins, he would compete against Fritz, the highest-ranked American, in the semis on Friday.
“That could be crazy, so I guess we’ll see what happens,” Fritz remarked, adding that he will be prepared for whatever comes next.
Fritz showcased impressive serving throughout the match, winning 20 of 21 points on his first serve during the fourth set and achieving an overall first-serve win rate of 81%. His 16 match victories in majors this year are the highest for an American man since Andy Roddick, who won the last Grand Slam title by an American man 21 years ago at the US Open.