"Hopefully it's me" - Frances Tiafoe reacts to American finalist being guaranteed in US Open men's singles with his SF against Taylor Fritz

Frances Tiafoe shared his excitement at American men's tennis' resurgence ahead of his all-American semifinal clash against Taylor Fritz at the 2024 US Open. One of the two will become the first US Open men's finalist from the host nation since Andy Roddick in 2006. It will also make the winner the first Grand Slam finalist from the USA since Roddick again, at Wimbledon in 2009.

The American was leading ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, (5)6-7, 6-3, 4-1 when the Bulgarian had to retire due to a leg injury in their quarterfinal clash.

During the post-match press conference, Tiafoe was asked about the current group of men in American tennis. He replied that players from the current generation have been playing great tennis in recent times, adding this group of players had all been "knocking on the door".

Tiafoe said (at 5:10):

"Yeah me, Taylor (Fritz), Tommy (Paul), Reilly (Opelka), we've spoken about it for years. This is the group...this is the group and we openly speak about it, I think we've all been knocking on the door, Taylor’s been in and out of Top 10, Top 15, myself, (I) was Top 10 this time last year, and Tommy's knocking on the door, (Sebastian) Korda’s doing great, Ben (Shelton).

"It's only a matter of time you put yourself in positions like, it's only a matter of time. The game is open[...] It's pretty exciting, first potential time, well first time since 09, and, yeah, hopefully, it's me."

The 26-year-old kicked off his campaign at Flushing Meadows with wins over Aleksander Kovacevic and Alexander Shevchenko, respectively, in the first two rounds. The 20th seed then ousted 13th seed Ben Shelton and followed it up with yet another impressive performance to knock 28th seed Alexei Popyrin out and reach the final eight.

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A look into Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz's head-to-head

Frances Tiafoe (Image Source: Getty)

Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz will be facing each other in the semifinals of the 2024 US Open, in what will be the eighth meeting between the two men. The 12th-seeded Fritz ousted Alexander Zverev 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach his maiden Grand Slam semifinal. Fritz boasts an overwhelming 6-1 lead against his compatriot.

The two first met in the opening round of the 2016 Indian Wells, the only meeting where Tiafoe got the better of the World No. 12. Interestingly all of their meetings have come on hardcourt, with their most recent match in Acapulco in 2023, a comfortable straight-sets win for Fritz.

Tiafoe and Fritz have played each other only in a Grand Slam. They met in the second round of the 2022 Australian Open, Fritz winning there in straight sets.