By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer
NEW YORK — Taylor Fritz surged with a six-game run against a fading and frustrated Frances Tiafoe to come out on top, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in an all-American matchup at the U.S. Open on Friday night to reach his first Grand Slam final.
The 12th-seeded Fritz’s momentum shift-filled victory against No. 20 Tiafoe – a pair of 26-year-olds who are close friends and have known each other since they were playing in tournaments for kids younger than 14 – earned a showdown against top-seeded Jannik Sinner for the championship on Sunday.
Fritz, who grew up in San Diego, will be the first U.S. man to appear in a major final since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009. And if he can get past Sinner, Fritz would become the first U.S. man to win a Slam trophy since Roddick got his 21 years ago at the U.S. Open.
“It’s the reason why I do what I do,” Fritz said, his voice cracking. “It’s the reason why I work so hard.”
From 4-all in the fourth set Friday, he seized control as Tiafoe’s strokes and usual confidence betrayed him. After a double-fault handed over a break to make it 4-0 in the fifth, more than three hours into the proceedings, Tiafoe chucked his racket. Fritz repaid the favor by double-faulting to end the next game, but broke right back and soon it was over.
Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy exonerated in a doping case less than three weeks ago, finished off a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over No. 25 Jack Draper earlier Friday that featured simultaneous treatment of both competitors by trainers deep in the 1½-hour second set.
“It was a very physical match, as we see,” said Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January. “I just tried to stay there mentally.”
He got his left wrist massaged after falling during a point he managed to win; Draper needed medical attention after vomiting twice in a game with the temperature in the high 70s and the humidity above 60%. During that break in the action, a vacuum was used to clear the ground behind the baseline and finish the cleaning job Draper, a 22-year-old from Britain, tried to do himself by wiping his, um, mess with a towel.
There was none of that sort of drama away from the actual play in Tiafoe vs. Fritz, and the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd might have been forgiven for not knowing for whom to cheer in the first semifinal in New York between two American men in 19 years.
There was a burst of clapping right before the first point, a curtain raiser befitting the show about to unfold. Yet when Fritz broke on the way to a 3-0 lead, there wasn’t even the hint of a roar, more like polite applause.
The respective guest boxes seemed to reflect the players’ contrasting personalities. The excitable Tiafoe would mark a key moment by shaking a raised fist or gritting his teeth or wagging his racket or nodding while strutting to the sideline, and his entourage – including coach David Witt, who worked with Venus Williams for many years, as well as Jessica Pegula, the American in the U.S. Open women’s final Saturday against Aryna Sabalenka – stood and clapped, point after point after point.
The group in the more mild-mannered Fritz’s corner was more selective in its celebrations.
For Tiafoe, who grew up in Maryland, this was his second time in a major semifinal; he lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz at that stage in New York two years ago. Fritz had never been past the quarterfinals at one of his sport’s four most prestigious events until now, but his journey to Friday included wins over a trio of guys with a combined six Slam runner-up showings: Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini.
Fritz started well Friday, smacking serves at up to 135 mph, before Tiafoe gathered himself and grabbed five games in a row. Soon, that set was Tiafoe’s. In the next, Fritz – who entered this match with a 6-1 head-to-head lead – was pretty much perfect, winning 24 of 25 service points and going 8 for 8 at the net. Again, Tiafoe regrouped quickly, breaking to begin the third, which turned out to be enough for that set, because he never allowed Fritz so much as one break chance. Tiafoe gave away the last game of the fourth, double-faulting twice and netting a drop shot, part of an 11-point run for Fritz that contributed to his big lead in the fifth.
There’s no doubt which finalist will get more vocal support Sunday.
Word emerged last month that Sinner failed two drug tests eight days apart in March but was cleared because he said the trace amounts of an anabolic steroid – an ingredient in a treatment for cuts sold over-the-counter in Italy – entered his system unintentionally via a massage from a team member he since has fired. That whole episode has been a constant topic of conversation as he progressed through the U.S. Open bracket.
The longer that points lasted between Sinner and Draper – who are friends and played doubles together at an event in August – the more things went the Italian’s way as the contest stretched past three hours.
He is as pure a ball-striker as there is in the men’s game at the moment, and while Draper’s lefty power and good hands – whether following his serves to the net or simply finding other times to hit volleys, he won 22 of the 34 points when he moved forward – made some inroads, Sinner got better and better the longer exchanges went.
Sinner took the point on 50 of 80 that lasted nine or more strokes.
“Jannik plays at such a high level,” Draper said, “all the time.”
More details to come on this story.
KICHENOK POSTPONES WEDDING, WINS DOUBLES TITLE
Lyudmyla Kichenok was supposed to get married this week to Jelena Ostapenko’s coach.
A run to the U.S. Open women’s doubles championship forced a change of plans.
Kichenok and Ostapenko won the title Friday for their first major as a team, beating Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 6-3.
Kichenok said she and Stas Khmarskiy were engaged more than a year ago. When they arrived for the tournament, they made plans for the wedding to be in New York.
“We were figuring out all the things, where we can do that. And, yeah, he found a spot here and he just booked an appointment for Wednesday,” Kichenok said. “He told me that. I was like, ‘OK, yeah, let’s go.’”
Instead, Kichenok and Ostapenko were playing their semifinal match Wednesday.
“I think it’s a good excuse to postpone it a bit,” Ostapenko said during the trophy ceremony.
Kichenok and Ostapenko, the No. 7 seeds, began the season with a loss in the Australian Open final. They were too good in Flushing Meadows, where they didn’t drop a set and won $750,000.
It was the fifth title together overall for Ostapenko, a Latvian who won the 2017 French Open in singles, and Kichenok, who dedicated the victory to her home country of Ukraine.
“They are fighting really hard for our freedom right now and I just hope I can give them some encouragement,” Kichenok said, “and my heart is with them.”
Kichenok and Ostapenko raced to a 4-1 lead before Mladenovic and Zhang fought back to tie it at 4-all. Ostapenko and Kichenok regained the lead when Ostapenko finally held serve during a 22-point game that lasted more than 12 minutes, and they won the set in the next game when Zhang double-faulted.
After falling behind 2-0 in the second, Kichenok and Ostapenko surged back as Arthur Ashe Stadium began to fill up with fans waiting for the first men’s semifinal.
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Mladenovic and Zhang fought off three match points – the last when a video review confirmed that Kichenok had hit the ball twice on an attempted volley – before the champions wrapped it up on their next chance.
Mladenovic has won six Grand Slam doubles titles but fell to 0-3 in the U.S. Open final.
“But I still like the place. It’s OK,” she joked afterward.
Zhang was looking for her second trophy in New York, having teamed with Sam Stosur for the 2021 title. She and Mladenovic shared $375,000.
“For me the biggest motivation is I wanted to put our name on this trophy,” Zhang said. “But we will fight next time.”
As for her wedding, Kichenok only knew that it would now be “somewhere, somehow.”
“No plan yet,” she said. “Maybe Las Vegas or in Europe somewhere.”
AP sports writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.
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