It was no fluke that Frances Tiafoe dominated Andrey Rublev to reach U.S. Open semis
Frances Tiafoe plays to the crowd during his match against Andrey Rublev in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Wednesday. Credit: Errol Anderson
No, it was not a fluke.
Frances Tiafoe showed the world that he is the real deal Wednesday when he followed his stunning win over tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a soul-crushing 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 victory over Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.
Tiafoe now is ready to realize the dream he first started chasing as an 8-year-old playing a rich kids game at the tennis center where his immigrant father worked as a custodian. He needs just two more wins to become the first American to win a U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2003.
“We got two more guys. Two more,” Tiafoe screamed at the Arthur Ashe crowd in his on-court interview immediately following the win.
The win comes at a pivotal time for American men’s tennis as there’s nothing the USTA would love more than to have a charismatic young American star ready for the big time as the Big Three — Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer — head toward retirement.
No American has won a Grand Slam singles title since 2003. Roddick made it to the U.S. Open semifinals in 2006 and lost to Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon final. Sam Querrey served his way into the Wimbledon semifinals in 2016 and John Isner was there in 2018.
Tiafoe, seeded No. 26, now leads the pack of up-and-coming young Americans that also includes No. 10-ranked Taylor Fritz, No. 28 Reilly Opelka and No. 29 Tommy Paul. With the win over Nadal, he becomes the first of them to eliminate one of tennis’ Big Three out of a Grand Slam tournament.
There was genuine concern heading into the match that Tiafoe would suffer some kind of letdown after his upset of Nadal, the best player he had ever beaten. Tiafoe wanted to enjoy the moment but at the same time he knew he had to move on and be ready for Rublev, a player he had a 1-1 record against.
“It was the biggest day of my life,” Tiafoe said of the win over Nadal. “You know, that night, I couldn’t really sleep. Last night I slept great. I mean, preparation-wise, you stay in the moment.”
Tiafoe has played some of his best matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium. In fact, in his U.S. Open debut when he was 19, he took Federer to five sets in 2017. Yet, it has taken a couple of years of ups and downs since then to get him to a point where he is two wins away from winning a Grand Slam.
“It’s been a bit of a struggle over time,” his coach, Wayne Ferreira, said Wednesday. “He’s believing in what he needs to do . . . I don’t think I’ve seen him hit the ball as well.”
Said Tiafoe: “You go through different stages of your life. When I came on the scene, flying up the rankings, everything was kind of good. I got a bit complacent, 2019. Took me a long time to just get myself together.”
There was nothing complacent about Tiafoe on Wednesday afternoon. He played aggressive tennis throughout the match, serving 18 aces and venturing frequently to the net, where he won 31 of 41 points. Tiafoe knows how to step up his game when the pressure is on and is now 6-0 in tiebreaks at the Open.
He took control of what had been a close match in the most stunning of ways, winning all seven points of the second-set tiebreaker. That tiebreaker included back-to-back aces on the fourth and fifth point with his serves being clocked at 134 and 136 mph.
After each point, he pointed to the crowd or shook his fists to pump them up.
“Best tiebreaker I will ever play,” Tiafoe said.
Rublev was clearly rattled after losing the second-set tiebreak and he frequently let his frustration show throughout the match, screaming obscenities in English and hitting himself in the leg with his racket.
Tiafoe advances to face either world No. 4 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 13 Jannik Sinner on Friday. Tiafoe sees no reason why the winner this year shouldn’t be him.
Said Tiafoe: “You know, everyone loves a Cinderella story. Just trying to make one.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
