Stars Align: Tiafoe, Fritz, Navarro Light Up US Open Semis

New York,US, Sep 3 (EFE).- The US Open turned into an “America’s Got Talent” episode on Tuesday, as tennis stars Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, and Emma Navarro all secured spots in the semi-finals, keeping the home crowd’s hopes alive for a championship run in New York.

While Tiafoe and Fritz advanced in the men’s draw, Navarro secured her place in the women’s semi-finals.

The only non-American to break into the New York Grand Slam semi-finals was Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

The American celebration could grow even bigger if sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula manages to defeat world number one Iga Swiatek in their quarterfinal on Wednesday.

It was an especially bright day for the US in the men’s competition, as a finalist is now guaranteed—Tiafoe (No. 20) and Fritz (No. 12) will face off in the semi-finals on Sunday.

The last time two Americans met in a Grand Slam semi-final was in 2005, when Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri in New York.

The stars and stripes haven’t celebrated a men’s title at Flushing Meadows for more than two decades, with Andy Roddick’s 2003 triumph being the last.

This year presents a golden opportunity in a tournament full of surprises, including the eliminations of Novak Djokovic (No. 2), Carlos Alcaraz (No. 3), and, on Tuesday, Alexander Zverev (No. 4).

The American players will undoubtedly have the full support of Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the crowd is fervently behind its homegrown talent, ready to push them to glory with chants of “U-S-A.”

Zverev fell victim to American tennis on Tuesday, losing in the quarterfinals to Fritz 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in a grueling three hours and 26 minutes of play. Fritz had also beaten Zverev earlier this year at Wimbledon, where the German was eliminated in the round of 16 after winning the first two sets.

In his first Grand Slam semi-final, Fritz will face compatriot Tiafoe, who advanced due to the injury withdrawal of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (No. 9) while Tiafoe was leading 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 after three hours and four minutes.

Fritz has a strong record against Tiafoe, having lost their first match in 2016 but winning all six encounters since. However, Tiafoe brings the experience of reaching the US Open semi-finals in 2022.

In the women’s competition, Navarro (No. 12) qualified for her first Grand Slam semi-final by defeating Spain’s Paula Badosa (No. 29) 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 12 minutes.

She will face a formidable opponent in Sabalenka (No. 2), who dominated China’s Qinwen Zheng (No. 7 and the gold medalist women’s singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics) with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in just one hour and 13 minutes.

This marks Sabalenka’s fourth consecutive semi-final at the New York Grand Slam.

She reached the final last year but lost the title to American Coco Gauff (No. 3). Navarro and Sabalenka have faced each other twice this year, with Navarro winning in Indian Wells and Sabalenka winning at Roland Garros. EFE

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