Early Tuesday afternoon, the line separating sun and shade cut right through the heart of Arthur Ashe Stadium, making it difficult to track the ball. But that was only half the problem.
Even after the glare had lifted, it wasn’t always easy to understand what exactly was going on down there. The facts are this: After a four-set, three-and-a-half-hour tug-of-war against Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz is in a first US Open semifinal.
What the score doesn’t show? All the chaos he had to wade through to get there, as this game went one way and then the other.
There was false dawn after false dawn. There were handouts and wasted chances. There were moments of electrifying quality, diluted by wars of attrition. Every time a player seemed to have taken control, they gave it back.
Even Nick Kyrgios was stunned. “What the hell is going on?” the Australian said after a 37-shot rally. Fritz eventually claimed victory.
Taylor Fritz defeats Alexander Zverev to reach US Open semifinals in Flushing Meadows
It wasn’t always convincing – the American was too passive on too many important points, while Zverev dragged him into a dogfight. But the American got the job done 7-6 3-6 6-4 7-6.
This was the second time in a few months that Fritz and Zverev had put their fans through the wringer. Back at Wimbledon, the American rallied from a two-set deficit to win a five-set thriller.
But that comeback was quickly forgotten amid a feud between Zverev and Fritz’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle. Both during and after the match, the influencer posted messages on social media that appeared to allude to abuse allegations against the world number 4. He denies any wrongdoing and has also hit back.
On Tuesday, Riddle was back in Fritz’s box. She cheered and clapped and fanned herself. Sometimes she disappeared. But she stayed away from her phone.
So this victory will be all about Fritz, his adventure in uncharted waters and his attempt to become the first American to win the US Open in more than twenty years.
Fritz had already broken new ground in the two weeks—no American had reached the fourth round of all four Grand Slams in a calendar year since 2003, and no American had reached three quarterfinals since 2007. But none of that mattered if his fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal played out the same way as the previous four. It didn’t.
Arthur Ashe was quite sleepy on Tuesday afternoon, especially compared to the cauldron of noise and cocktails that awaited Tommy Paul and Jannik Sinner the night before.
Instead, Fritz and Zverev were greeted on court by a sea of empty seats. Thousands of fans had spilled out to eat lunch and soak up the sun between matches; many were still streaming back when Fritz earned the first break point.
It came after a great toe-to-toe exchange from midcourt. The American let the opportunity pass rather tamely, but at least the fuse was lit. These two shared another nice tug-of-war in Zverev’s next service game and suddenly the match began to heat up.
Neither man was entirely happy, however. Neither played with the consistency or aggression to take control.
Fritz had all four chances to break – including three at 6-5 – but failed to capitalize on any of them, instead firing three balls into the crowd as Zverev took us to a tiebreak.
It would have been a bitter blow if Fritz had fallen behind after all that fuss. He didn’t, but it felt fitting that the American needed three smashes on set point to finally kill his rival.
That helped wake Ashe from his slumber — and send Zverev to the brink. As the first set slipped away, the No. 4 seed began chiding his box and staring at his racket.
Within minutes, however, Zverev was standing with his arms outstretched and his face turned to the sky. Somehow, the German had pulled off a forehand pass that curved around the net and landed on the baseline.
It came to nothing – Zverev failed to break – but it served as a reminder to Fritz that his grip on this match was still fragile.
He ignored the warning. In his next service game, the American gave away a first break point and then hit another ball into the stands. Within a few minutes, Zverev had decided the second set and was threatening to take control.
The German forced another break point in the first game of set three and suddenly Fritz faltered. But credit to the American, he held his nerve and held his serve.
Then came Fritz’s chance to seize the momentum – the No. 12 seed broke through for 2-0. Then came his turn to give it right back – 3-0 became 3-3 and the match was once again in the balance.
Eventually, the weather turned in Fritz’s favor. But only after he lost that 37-shot truggle that left Kyrgios in uncharted territory: speechless. And only after he had earned five break points and blown the first four.
The American finally broke through and closed out set three. The tension remained throughout set four. The only surprise? Once Fritz got his nose ahead, it was plain sailing from there.