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After eliminating three players seeded lower than him in consecutive matches, Frances Tiafoe made it to the semifinals of the 2022 US Open, his first at Flushing Meadows.
On Wednesday, it took the 22nd seed American two hours and 36 minutes to outclass ninth seed Andrey Rublev 7-6(3), 7-6(0), 6-4 in the quarterfinals at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Tiafoe earlier defeated 14th seed Diego Schwartzman in the third round and second seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth.
The last time a black American male player reached the last-eight stage of the US Open was half a century ago, when the man himself, Arthur Ashe, beat compatriot Stan Smith in the quarterfinals. Ashe lost the title clash to Romania's Ilie Nastase, who downed the three-time Major winner 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Although Wednesday's match was a straight-sets affair, Rublev fought hard to make things difficult for Tiafoe. The lone break point in the entire match came in the seventh game of the third and final set when the 26th-ranked American took a 4-3 lead. Tiafoe finished with 46 winners, compared to Rublev's 31, while both players hit 38 unforced errors.
The 24-year-old is now just two wins away from becoming the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open victory.
A number of current and former players have taken to social media to express their delight at Tiafoe's accomplishments so far. The congratulators included Sloane Stephens, James Blake, and Coco Gauff. Gauff shared a photo of Tiafoe on her Instagram stories.
"Incredible," Stephens wrote.
"Over/under on hugs for @FTiafoe in the next day is 6,000,000. Biggest hugger in the world and they are all as genuine as can be. Nothing better than that gross, sweaty hug," Blake tweeted.
"It puts my mind at ease that Nadal is out of the way" - Frances Tiafoe
In a press conference after his win over Andrey Rublev in the 2022 US Open quarterfinals, Frances Tiafoe was asked if the absence of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic gave him a little more confidence. The 24-year-old was quick to agree, saying that they were used to ending the campaign for anyone who faced them at any stage.
"For sure, it puts my mind at ease that Nadal is out of the way. That's a real thing. I mean, everyone is going to be in those first-time situations. People might gag under pressure. People may lift up. You never know what's going to happen. It's going to be a first," he said, adding, "To have those guys, yeah, that was always a problem. It didn't really matter where you're from, what was your name. You ran into those guys, and they just said, 'See ya'."
Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Results
