NEW YORK — A degree away from shedding the second set along with his opponent serving, Frances Tiafoe checked out a constructive.
No less than, he figured, he would be capable of change out of his sweaty shirt and sneakers.
A pair minutes later, he hadn’t modified his garments. He had modified across the match.
Tiafoe rallied to steal the second set and went on to earn his manner again to the US Open quarterfinals for the third straight 12 months, beating Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 on Sunday evening.
“I believe the second set was an enormous, large win for me,” Tiafoe stated. “You understand, 5-3, 40-love, him serving, how good he serves, that was actually, actually large. To interrupt there after which to win that set was large.”
The No. 20 seed will try and match the very best Grand Slam results of his profession when he faces No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday for a berth within the semifinals.
Tiafoe misplaced to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in that spherical in 2022, and was eradicated final 12 months within the quarterfinals by Ben Shelton.
Tiafoe is the primary American man to achieve three consecutive US Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick from 2006-08. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are the one different American males since 2000 to achieve the ultimate eight in New York three straight instances.
All that after what had been a fairly poor first half of the season earlier than Tiafoe heated up on the hard-court swing main into the US Open.
“All the pieces is going on when it’s meant to occur,” Tiafoe stated. “I’m glad it’s taking place now as a result of that is an important time for me.”
He turned the match late within the second set, when Popyrin was serving with a 5-3 lead and an opportunity to even it at a set apiece. Tiafoe gained the subsequent 5 factors to interrupt, and rapidly took management of the tiebreaker by leaping to a 4-1 lead.
Popyrin, the No. 28 seed from Australia, upset defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday to achieve the fourth spherical of a Grand Slam for the primary time. However he believed he may need gone additional had he put away the second set.
“Positively a misplaced alternative,” Popyrin stated. “I’ve been saying all week that I believe towards these high gamers you must take your probabilities when you may have them. Clearly 5-3, 40-Love up serving, it’s a very large choke from my finish.”
No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz gained earlier Sunday and one other American, Tommy Paul, will play No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy within the fourth spherical Monday. Ought to Paul win that, he would be part of Tiafoe and Fritz to offer the U.S. three males within the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the second consecutive 12 months.
The final time there have been that many gamers from the host nation within the US Open males’s quarterfinals twice in a row was in 2001 and 2002.
