It was not a matter of if an American man would be playing in the US Open final; it was a matter of who.

After a grinding semi-final fight over five sets, Taylor Fritz outlasted Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to become the first American man in 18 years to play for a grand slam singles title on home soil. On Sunday, Fritz will face the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, who survived his own gut-check match against Great Britain’s Jake Draper.

“It’s a dream come true. I’m in the final. So I’m going to come out and give everything I can possibly give,” an emotional Fritz said after the match. “I can’t wait.”

In their two career meetings, both at Indian Wells, Fritz and Sinner have split the difference, with the Italian winning their most recent meeting in 2023. While Sinner, the reigning Australian Open champion, has already gotten the pressure of his nation off his back, Fritz heads into the final with the impossible job of leading American men’s tennis back to its former glory. On Friday, he showed that there isn’t much he won’t do in pursuit of victory – even if that means running over his best friend.

Given that Fritz and Tiafoe were made for this moment, rising together in the USTA system, it was only a matter of time before they came together for the highest stakes. The clash that resulted wasn’t merely close, separated by a handful of points until Fritz broke away in the fifth; it was tense. Both men strained under the weight of the moment at times while the US crowd wrestled with which American to support. In the end, Fritz proved the better at holding his nerve, protecting his serve punishing the ball with a wicked forehand that took the spring out Tiafoe’s step.

Early on he blasted away from the baseline while an anxious Tiafoe searched for rhythm. Fritz used short rallies to open a 3-0 first-set lead. He was poised to go up 4-0 when Tiafoe smacked an emphatic crosscourt winner that woke up the crowd, the oxygen that stokes his inner flame when he’s playing on center court. Tiafoe went on to break Fritz in that game and tick off wins in the next three, pushing his opponent around the court and even felling him to the blue surface during one helter-skelter rally. Fritz fought his way back for a break chance, but then Tiafoe served up two blistering aces to stake a 5-3 lead. On his next go, he held without conceding a point to win set one – the first set he’s taken off Fritz in two years and just the fourth in 19 tries.

Both players held serve to a 4-4-all stalemate in the second set, until Fritz had a chance to break for the lead. On a furious exchange, the players exchanged net cords before Tiafoe ended the rally with a net volley reply that sailed over the baseline. When a second break opportunity materialized at 5-5, Fritz put pressure on Tiafoe’s serve and drop shots – an attempt to get Fritz on the run. But Fritz was up to the challenge, clobbering a pair of groundstrokes to get out of that jam, and then denied Tiafoe a point on serve to level the match. But Tiafoe didn’t let the setback linger, scoring an early break and holding on for a two sets to one lead.

When play resumed, the players dug in even deeper, as the weight of the moment sunk in. The exchange of the night was 31-shot rally that saw both players flash impressive fitness, shot variety and a stubborn unwillingness to give ground – but it may have taken too much out of Tiafoe. After Fritz won that point and traded service games with his compatriot, Tiafoe double faulted twice to gift Fritz a set point – then missed a drop shot to draw Fritz level in the match.

“He was overwhelming from the baseline so much … and I just tried to tell myself to stay in it and fight,” said Fritz. “I told myself that if I didn’t give it absolutely everything I had – to just stick with it and see if his level might drop a little bit – then I was going to regret it for a long time.”

In the fifth set, Tiafoe could no longer hide the signs of wear, and his once formidable service game cracked. “I felt like my body shut down on me,” said Tiafoe after the match. “I got ahead of myself.”

Fritz broke him twice to jump out to a 4-0 lead, the decisive points scored on a double fault that had Tiafoe spiking his racket in disgust. Then Fritz double faulted to hand Tiafoe a lifeline – but he was too gassed to convert and dropped his serve again to extend Fritz’s lead to 5-1. That was effectively the end for Tiafoe, who may feel the sting of this defeat for some time. At least he can say he took one for the team.