Tiafoe first American man in US Open semifinals since Roddick in ‘06

NEW YORK — About 20 minutes after Frances Tiafoe earned the first trip to the U.S. Open semifinals by an American man since 2006, he met up in an Arthur Ashe Stadium foyer with a host of friends, Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal among them.

Everyone traded hearty hugs and huge smiles. Tiafoe shouted, “Let’s pose for a dope photo!” and they obliged. As the nine-person line stood together, someone yelled, “Throw up a ‘Dub!’” so Tiafoe and others formed a “W” — as in “Win” — by joining thumbs and index fingers on both hands. Tiafoe’s girlfriend ran through the nearby double doors, jumped into his arms, gave him a kiss, then wiped away lipstick from his mouth.

Most assuredly a showman, and someone striving for years for this sort of success on big stages, Tiafoe sure is enjoying the ride, as are his pals, his parents and the partisan fans, who last celebrated a Grand Slam trophy for a man from the United States two decades ago.

Tiafoe managed the tricky task of following up the biggest win of his career, against 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, with another milestone victory, beating No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 behind the backing of a boisterous crowd on Wednesday.

“I love to show the world what I can do,” said the 24-year-old Tiafoe, who is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows. “I just want to go out there and try to give the crowd what they want — and that’s me getting the win.”

Andy Roddick, who was in the Ashe stands Wednesday, was the last U.S. man to get to the semifinals in New York, losing 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.

None of the men left in the bracket this time has ever won a major trophy. Tiafoe’s first career Slam semifinal will come Friday against No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 Jannik Sinner.

“Frances is such a fantastic young man. Good things happen to good people,” tournament director Stacey Allaster said. “Irrespective of how he finishes, this has been a monumental evolution in his career and he’ll only build upon the learning and success of this U.S. Open.”

This step forward has come with the help of Tiafoe’s coach, former pro player Wayne Ferreira, who said the player used to not be “really professional enough,” and pointed to important changes to his habits when it comes to eating — there had been too much chocolate and cookies and not enough breakfasts — practice and work in the gym.

“It’s taken time for us to get gradually to where we are today,” Ferreira said. “I kind of imagined he would be at his best by the end of next year.”

Tiafoe played aggressive, offensive tennis on Wednesday, never got broken and used 18 aces along with strong volleying to oust Rublev, a Russian who dropped to 0-6 in major quarterfinals. Tiafoe won 31 of 41 points when he went to the net; Rublev only ventured forward 11 times. Rain drops began falling just before the start of Tiafoe vs. Rublev, so they stood around waiting for the retractable roof to be shut. That resulted in a cool, wind-free environment and a louder setting, with applause and yells from fans reverberating in what became an indoor arena — circumstances that favored Tiafoe.

The only break of serve came more than two hours in, when Tiafoe went ahead 4-3 in the third set, then stood mostly motionless on court, enjoying the crescendo of support. The other key moments came at the conclusions of the first two sets; Tiafoe is 6-0 in tiebreakers at this U.S. Open.

Rublev actually had the first chance to nose ahead, with a set point at 6-5 in the first, but Tiafoe erased it with a risky forehand to a corner that drew a netted reply.

Several minutes later, it was Tiafoe who took the set, sealing it with a 130 mph ace, then strutting to the changeover, nodding and motioning with his racket for more noise. A similar scene played out in the second tiebreaker after a drop volley by Tiafoe forced a mistake by Rublev to make it 6-0.

When Tiafoe produced a backhand return winner to seal a two-set lead, he sprinted to the sideline, sat down near his messy collection of towels, shirts and socks spread out around the ground — call it “college dorm room chic” or, to use his word, “diabolical” — and shook his fist amid the delirium of a standing ovation.

“Best tiebreaker I will ever play,” Tiafoe said. “Honestly a laughable tiebreaker. You can’t make that up.” Rublev never tried to hide his anger at the way things were going. He hit himself in the leg with his racket or punched his strings. Over and over, he gesticulated and yelled toward his guest box, where only four of the 15 seats were occupied, quite a contrast to Tiafoe’s completely full section.

Swiatek tops Pegula; faces Sabalenka in US Open semifinals

NEW YORK (AP) — Iga Swiatek dropped four points in a row in her U.S. Open quarterfinal against Jessica Pegula by missing shots, some wildly. So with Pegula up by a break at 3-2 and serving at 30-love, Swiatek walked over to the sideline in the middle of a game to swap out her white racket for another one.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium roof was open, the 70-degree air was as cool and dry as it’s been during a hot, humid tournament, and Swiatek figured maybe she should try a tighter string tension to see whether that would help control the ball a little more.

Whether that actually did the trick, or simply put Swiatek’s mind at ease, the move certainly swung the direction of the match. The No. 1-ranked Swiatek grabbed 14 of the next 15 points and, while closing things out was not easy, she reached her first semifinal at Flushing Meadows by pulling out a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Pegula on Wednesday night.

“I don’t know if it actually was the key or something,” Swiatek said after a match filled with a combined 13 breaks of serve, 10 in the second set alone. “For sure, I wasn’t thinking about the strings (anymore), and I just focused on the right stuff after the change.”

When play resumed, Swiatek popped up a short return that floated toward Pegula, who rushed a backhand swinging volley that landed out. That was followed by three forehand errors in a row by the No. 8 Pegula, the highest-ranked American player.

“I started missing everything for literally the rest of the set,” Pegula said between sips from a can of Heineken. “It was definitely a huge momentum change. I think it helped her a lot. So it was a good move by her. … I was just going for too much. The games kind of flew by.”

Swiatek will face No. 6 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in Thursday’s semifinals. The other women’s semifinal is No. 5 Ons Jabeur against No. 17 Caroline Garcia, who eliminated 18-year-old American Coco Gauff on Tuesday.

Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland who won the French Open in 2020 and this June, twice failed to serve out the victory Wednesday, at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set. But she was better in the tiebreaker, and when Pegula missed a backhand to close the contest, Swiatek ran toward her guest box, flung her racket and yelled.

Swiatek compiled a 37-match winning streak earlier this season, claiming the trophies at six consecutive events, but this is her first trip beyond the fourth round in New York.

“I wasn’t expecting that at the beginning of the tournament,” she said. “Trying to keep my expectations low.”

This marked Swiatek’s eighth win in a row against an opponent ranked in the top 10, all in straight sets.

“I’m super proud of myself. My goal, basically, is to be consistent,” she said. “I remember when I was an underdog and every match like that was surreal. Now it feels pretty routine.”