Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz To Meet In All-American U.S. Open ...

USA's Frances Tiafoe (R) and Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov (L) meet at the net after Dimotrov retired ... [+] due to injury during their men's quarterfinals match on day nine of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 3, 2024. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

An American man will play for the U.S. Open championship on Sunday.

No. 20 Frances Tiafoe and No. 12 Taylor Fritz will meet in the semifinals on Friday with a chance to play for a major title. The last American man to win a Grand Slam title was Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open in 2003.

It will be the first major semifinal between American men since Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri in five sets at the Open in 2005. No American man has reached a Slam final since Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009, and no American man has played for his home Slam since Roddick at the 2006 U.S. Open.

In both cases, Roddick lost to Roger Federer, who ironically was in Arthur Ashe Stadium to watch Tiafoe defeat No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 by walkover.

“It’s the biggest match of me and Taylor’s life,” Tiafoe, who reached the semis two years ago before losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, said on court.

“We’ve known each other for so long, I’ve been playing against him since the 14s so to be able to play him here at the biggest arena, at one of the biggest matches in the world, is gonna be awesome. I can’t be more excited, I’m going to give everything I got.

“I know we’re too Americans but I hope y’all are with me come Friday.”

Fritz is 6-1 against Tiafoe for their careers.

Both Americans came through the bottom half of the draw where defending champion and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic had been the favorite before being upset in the third round.

Tiafoe, 26, is the son of a former janitor at a Maryland tennis center and couldn't afford daycare so his kids, including Frances, stayed and slept with him in a vacant storage room. That’s where he was first introduced to tennis.

Fritz, also 26, had two parents who came from the tennis world. Guy Fritz was a pro tennis player who never got higher than No. 301 in the world, while his mother, Kathy May, won seven WTA singles titles, and achieved a career-high ranking of world no. 10 in 1977.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 3: Taylor Fritz of the United States celebrates winning against ... [+] Alexander Zverev of Germany in the quarter finals on day 5 of the US Open at Arthur Ashe stadium at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 3, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Peter van den Berg/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

“I know the crowd would really want to see me and Frances so we get an American in the final,” Fritz said after his four-set win over No. 4 Alexander Zverev.

“That could be crazy. I guess we’ll see what happens, but either way I’ll be ready to go.”

American also Emma Navarro advanced to the women's semifinals on Tuesday, and will play Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday for a spot in Saturday's women's singles final. Jessica Pegula plays Iga Swiatek in a quarterfinal match on Wednesday to potentially give the U.S. two semifinalists in both men's and women's singles. The last Grand Slam to feature multiple American men's and women's singles semifinalists was the 2003 U.S. Open (Agassi and Roddick; Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati).

After years and years of wondering where the next American Grand Slam champion might come from, these two are now knocking on the door.

Five American men are ranked inside the Top 20 — with No. 13 Ben Shelton, No. 14 Tommy Paul and No. 16 Sebastian Korda all in the group. Tiafoe said they all openly talked about the chances of winning a major title.

“Yeah, me, Taylor, Tommy, Reilly [Opelka], we've spoken about it for years, this is the group, this is the group,” Tiafoe said. “You know, we openly speak about it.

“I think we all been knocking on the door. Taylor's been in and out of top 10. You know, top 15. Myself, I was top 10 this time last year. Tommy is knocking on the door of quarters, playing great... It's only a matter of time. You put yourself in positions, it's only a matter of matter of time, and the game is open. It's not like it once was where you make quarterfinals, you play Rafa [Nadal], and you're looking at flights.

“I mean, that's just the reality. Now it's just totally different, you know. And no one's unbeatable. Especially later in the season where guys are maybe a little bit cooked. Maybe just not as fresh and they're vulnerable.

“Yeah, it's pretty exciting. First time since '09. Hopefully it's me.”

USA's Frances Tiafoe gestures as he celebrates his win against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov who ... [+] retired due to injury during their men's quarterfinals match on day nine of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 3, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Tiafoe said he was more excited that comedian Kevin Hart was in the crowd than having Federer in the house.

In the first set, Tiafoe earned the match’s first break when he approached the net and put away a backhand volley winner for 3-2. The American clenched his fist to the crowd. He went on to win the first set 6-3.

After Dimitrov won the second set tiebreak, he hit a forehand long at 3-4, 15-0 and appeared to be in some discomfort as he slid to hit the ball.

After double-faulting to lose the third set, he needed help from the trainer on his left hamstring and then left the court.

When he returned, he was limping. He ultimately called it quits down 4-1 in the fourth.

“Well, not that much to say right now,” Dimitrov said. “I mean, first of all, congrats to Frances. Fought very hard. Played good tennis. Really good tennis, actually.

“Yeah, it's just disappointing moment for me. I need to reassess a couple of things. But considering how, I have played throughout the whole weeks here, I'll take that quarterfinal any time.”

As for Tiafoe, he recalled a conversation with Fritz on a plane from several years ago.

“He's, like, ‘Bro, I think me and you are going to be [the No.] 1 [and] 2 Americans and leading the way,’” Tiafoe recalled.

“Coming from him. I was, like, dang, dude, 6:00 a.m., I'm pretty tired, but let's do it. Why not? You know, he's kind of had that mindset and he's pushed me a lot, you know what I mean? Times I'm playing really bad or whatever the case may be and he's doing it or vice versa, I think we have kind of always pushed each other. Now I think it's great that we get to compete against each other in such a big match, and I'm happy for him. I know he's happy for me.

“Let the best man win come Friday. It's going to be epic. Popcorn, do what you got to do. It's going to be a fun one come Friday.”