US Open: No. 12 Taylor Fritz upends No. 4 Alexander Zverev, is second American in semifinals

Posted by Admin September 3, 2024 Sports

Taylor Fritz celebrates a point again Alexander Zverev. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

No. 12 Taylor Fritz secured a quarterfinal upset of No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev at the US Open on Tuesday, earning the second berth in the semifinals for an American player.

Fritz won a tiebreak in the first set, then bounced back from a second-set loss for a 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win in the second quarterfinal match of the day.

No. 13 seed Emma Navarro rallied from a 5-1 second-set deficit earlier Tuesday for a straight-sets win over Spanish No. 26 seed Paula Badosa. No. 20 Frances Tiafoe and No. 6 Jessica Pegula will seek to become the third and fourth American players to advance to the semifinals.

Fritz’s win over Zverev was tightly contested from the start as neither player yielded a break in the first set. Fritz had a chance to break for the set, but Zverev battled back from three break points to tie the set at 6-6. Fritz won the tiebreak, setting the stage for the upset win.

Zverev responded with the first break of the match to take a 5-3 lead in the second, then won the set on his serve. The players traded breaks in the third set before Fritz secured the set on Zverev’s serve. Like the first set, Zverev rallied from triple set point to tie the decisive game. But Fritz won on his fifth set point to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The players then traded breaks again in the fourth to set up another tiebreak. This time, Fritz prevailed again, 7-3, to win the set and the match.

“I’ve had a look at quarterfinals over the last couple of years,” Fritz told ESPN after the match. “Today just felt different. I really felt like it was my time to take it a step further.”

Like Navarro, Fritz advances to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in his career. He’ll take on the winner of Tuesday’s primetime match between No. 20 seed Tiafoe and No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria). If Tiafoe wins, an American will be guaranteed a spot in the final. No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner is the favorite to advance from the other half of the bracket.

On the women’s side, Navarro will play the winner of Tuesday night’s match between No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen (China) and No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) in the semifinals. Pegula will face No. 1 seed and 2022 US Open champion Iga Świątek (Poland) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.