By Jennifer Amarachi
Frances Tiafoe blamed his devastating five-set loss to Taylor Fritz in the US Open semi-finals on cramps after his “body shut down”.
Tiafoe led twice in the match, but the last set lasted only 27 minutes, during which he was broken three times and scored just nine points.
“I was clearly the better player tonight. In the fourth set, I only had in-and-out cramping.
“I felt like my body just shut down on me,” said the 20th-ranked Tiafoe following his 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 loss.
Fritz became the first American to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Roddick in 2009, while Tiafoe suffered his second semi-final loss in three US Open tries.
In 2022, he lost another five-set match to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
“It was probably due to nerves. I wasn’t tired at all. The closest I got was when I played Alcaraz, and I was clinging on for dear life to make it five. I was in a strong position to win. I got ahead of myself, and I guarantee it won’t happen again”. Tiafoe explained
Fritz, rated 12th in the world, will meet top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday, having never advanced past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
He will seek to become the first American male to win a Grand Slam championship since Roddick in 2003 at the US Open.
“That was a crazy match. A large amount of was about handling the moment and the pressure”. said Fritz.
He was playing at an extremely high level in the third and fourth sets. It was about sticking with it, putting up with the pressure, and hoping that the errors would eventually come. It eventually came to that point. The first-round defeats of four-time winner Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz have left this year’s US Open wide open. Fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev also failed to reach the semi-finals.
