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In a heartbreaking moment, Andrey Rublev could not hold back tears as his US Open campaign was close to ending in the quarterfinals at the hands of Frances Tiafoe.
The incident happened in the third set when Tiafoe got the decisive break, which took him ever so close to sealing the contest in his favor.
While the Russian has been in great form at Flushing Meadows this fortnight, he came up short against home hope Tiafoe on Wednesday night. Down two sets and playing to stay in the contest, Rublev needed to get a decisive break in the third set to turn the match in his favor.
However, it was Tiafoe who broke him, ending the Russian's slim chances of booking a place in the semifinals. The 24-year-old eventually lost in straight-sets, marking yet another Major quarterfinal disappointment. He is now 0-6 in last-eight matches at Grand Slams.
Frances Tiafoe beats Andrey Rublev, through to maiden Grand Slam semifinal at US Open
Disappointment for Andrey Rublev on Wednesday meant ecstasy for Frances Tiafoe. The American backed up his shock win against Rafael Nadal in the previous round with a clinical, all-round display against the Russian, winning 7-6(3), 7-6(0), 6-4 in two hours and 35 minutes to book his place in his maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open.
In the third tour-level meeting between the pair, the American was clinical in a pair of tie-breaks to win the opening two sets, in which he did not carve out any break point opportunities.
While some nerves crept in during the third set, Tiafoe did well to rally from 30-40 to hold for 5-3 and then held convincingly to love in his final service game to complete the win.
The win against Rublev made Tiafoe the first American man to reach the semifinals in New York since Andy Roddick in 2006, who eventually finished as the runner-up. Incidentally, the former World No. 1 was in the stands cheering on his countryman against Rublev.
The young American. in his post-match press conference, acknowledged the dominant nature of his performance.
"That was a really good performance. Played well, served well. Yeah, really aggressive. Yeah, it was a pretty clean performance. Can't really critique it, really," he said.
Tiafoe will take on either Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner for a place in the semifinals, and he doesn't have a preference on who he wants to face between them as both are "unbelievable players."
"I think it's going to be a great match. I don't really have a preference. Either guy is going to be tough. They're both great players. I just hope they play a marathon match, super-long match, and they get really tired come Friday. No, they are both great players. It's going to be great tennis. I think they will be Grand Slam champions when they have done their careers, for sure. Those two are unbelievable players. Great for the game.," he stated.
Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Results
