Tuesday’s day at the US Open ended with the match between Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov. After Taylor Fritz’s victory a few hours before against Alexander Zverev, the crowd that thronged the Arthur Ashe court dreamed of a victory for the local player that would guarantee an American semifinal next Friday.
And so it was. However, the method of doing this is not the desired one, including abandoning the Bulgarian in the fourth set when he lost 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 and 4-1.
“Obviously it wasn’t the way I wanted to win, although I’m glad to qualify for the semi-finals. This is a very high level match. You will see me against another American, it will be great! This will be the most important game of our careers, we’ve known each other since we were 14 years old. “I couldn’t be more excited,” Tiafoe said on the court.
Dimitrov withdrew from the match after suffering an apparent injury to the back of his left thigh.. The Bulgarian was forced to retire in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in July.
The intensity of the match played in the night session culminated in a 2nd set tiebreak, which started well. before finishing with three double faults.
Down 4-1 at the start of the set, Dimitrov came back from a break down to win a superb tiebreakwith his silky one-handed backhand on a passing shot and then a return winner. After leading 6-3 with two serves, he broke with two double faults, before Tiafoe himself gave him the set with a double fault.
In the third set, Dimitrov was quiet once and finally He threw the towel across the room, when he couldn’t seem to run anymore.
Tiafoe will face his compatriot Taylor Fritz in the semi-finalswho stunned German Alexander Zverev and will play in his first grand slam semi-final.
world number 12, Fritz defeated Zverev, fourth in the ATP rankings, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 and 7-6(3) in three hours and 26 minutes of play at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.
Gone are Novak Djokovic (n.2), Carlos Alcaraz (n.3) and now Zverev (n.4), the men’s draw of this US Open full of surprises has only two players from the ‘top 5 ‘ in competition : Jannik Sinner (n.1) and Daniil Medvedev (n.5), who will meet in the quarterfinals this Wednesday.
Fritz has already defeated Zverev in another ‘big game’ this year: Wimbledon, where the German was eliminated in the round of 16 after scoring the first two sets.
Zverev, who signed one of the tournament points on Tuesday with a stunning pass to the side of the net who fell right in line, closed his ‘grand slam’ season without achieving the first title of his career and after playing in the final of Roland Garros in 2024 (lost against Alcaraz) and in the semifinals of the Australian Open (lost then . Medvedev).
Source: La Verdad
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