The last American man to win a Grand Slam singles championship was Andy Roddick, who did so in 2003 at Flushing Meadows.
In addition, Roddick was the last male American to compete in the US Open final, where he was defeated by Roger Federer in 2006.
However, Fritz defeated Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4 to stop his run of Grand Slam quarterfinal disappointments, meaning the wait for a home finalist will soon come to an end. 7–6 (7–3).
Then, when opponent Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire due to injury, the always entertaining Tiafoe advanced.
Dimitrov was defeated by Tiafoe 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 4-1, as the Bulgarian pulled out of the match due to what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
“Neither for the crowd nor for myself did I want to end it that way. However, Friday is going to be an incredible day,” the 20-seed Tiafoe remarked.
Fritz has never made it this far in a major semifinal before, having lost all four of his prior matches. Tiafoe is making his third major semifinal appearance.
After overcoming 2020 runner-up and German fourth seed Zverev earlier on Tuesday, he let out a yell of joy.
