Tennis – “Lots of fun”: Tiafoe and Fritz in the US duel in New York – Sport

New York (dpa) – Frances Tiafoe has perfected the American semifinal duel with Alexander Zverev’s conqueror Taylor Fritz at the US Open. The 26-year-old beat Grigor Dimitrov in front of the eyes of Swiss legend Roger Federer. Tiafoe helped the ailing Bulgarian retire when the score was 6:3, 6:7 (5:7), 6:3, 4:1. Dimitrov could hardly move from the end of the third set.

This will be the first time since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009 that a male US tennis professional will be in a Grand Slam final. The last men’s title to date was also won by the 42-year-old – in 2003 at the US Open in New York.

“I didn’t want to win like that, but I’m happy to have won,” said Tiafoe about the victory by forfeit and looked forward to the upcoming US duel. “This will be the biggest game of my life for me and Taylor. We’ve been playing against each other for 14 years.”

Fritz is looking forward to the US duel: “It will be electrifying”

After his four-set victory over Alexander Zverev, Fritz was also looking forward to the expected high point on Friday (local time). “It will be a lot of fun and it will be electrifying,” said the 26-year-old full of anticipation. “It will be great for the fans – and it guarantees that one of us will be in the final.”

The 33-year-old Dimitrov will have to wait for the first Grand Slam final of his long career. The former world number three has reached the semifinals of the four major tournaments three times. After losing the third round, the Bulgarian was treated in the dressing room. He tried again, could hardly put up any resistance and finally gave up.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240904-930-222366/1