Barker: Fritz-Tiafoe semifinal match — America, it's beautiful!

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There’s nothing fans at the U.S. Open love more than getting behind an American playing a big match in Arthur Ashe Stadium

Every point seems to elicit a hearty cheer, every double fault a deep sigh. The celebrity-studded crowd at the U.S. Open is so unanimous in its support of Americans that thanking them in the post-match interview is a time-honored ritual.

This, of course, presents fans with a big quandary Friday night when Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe meet in the first All-American semifinal to be played in any Grand Slam tournament in almost two decades.

Who is going to be the man they get behind? The choice is not an easy one as the two 26-year-olds are great players, great friends and have two great only-in-America stories.

Start with Tiafoe, who cemented his status as a fan favorite in 2022 when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the round of 16. Tiafoe’s run in that tournament would end in the semifinals when he lost a five-setter to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

“I’m going to come back and I will win this thing one day,” a depleted Tiafoe promised the fans at the end of the match.

This was not the first time that the 20th-seeded Tiafoe set his sights on winning the Grand Slam in Flushing.

The son of immigrants who had fled war-torn Sierra Leone, Tiafoe spent his days when he wasn’t in school helping his father, who worked as a caretaker at a tennis club in Maryland, and also playing tennis with his brother when there was an empty court. When his mother, a nurse, worked the night shift, Tiafoe and his brother would sleep with their father at the club.

Speaking to Nick Kyrgios on his podcast recently, Tiafoe recalled one night after “picking up the trash and lining the clay courts” that he went on the massage table at the club while his dad and brother shared the bed.

“I’m like, this is crazy,” Tiafoe recalled. “I’m going to win the U.S. Open someday. I’m going to be a pro and take care of everybody.”

Tennis was also a family affair for the 12th-seeded Fritz.

His mother — Kathy May Fritz, whose family founded Macy’s department store — was a top 10 women’s tennis player who made it to the finals of both the French Open and U.S. Open before retiring at the age of 24. His father, Guy Taylor Fritz, was a lower-level professional player who became a coach.

Fritz, who grew up in Rancho Santa Fe outside of San Diego, had a tennis court in his backyard. From an early age, his father made his son’s development a prime focus. Among the list of things Guy Fritz implemented was to have his son repeatedly walk on a balance board as a toddler. He set up a home gym and kept his son on a vegetable-centered diet while dramatically limiting his sugar intake.

“I did everything I possibly could to make him a champion,” his father told USA Today last year. “From the minute he was born, I can’t even tell you every little thing I did.”

His work paid off as Fritz and Tiafoe are considered among the sport’s brightest young stars.

The two consider themselves close friends and have played seven times on tour, Fritz having won their previous six meetings, most recently in the quarterfinals at Acapulco last season.

Not only did Fritz win those matches, but he won four of them in straight sets, including their lone major clash at the 2022 Australian Open.

The two have never played at the U.S. Open, however, and the tournament always seems to bring out the best in Tiafoe. After getting off to a tough start in 2024, Tiafoe brought in David Witt, Venus Williams’ longtime coach. The results have been impressive in the end-of-the-summer hardcourt stretch as he has won 13 of his last 16 matches.

“It’s almost like a joke,” Fritz said. “Frances wakes up in August.”

The match marks the first time two American men have met in a major semifinal since 2005. It guarantees that an American man will play in a U.S. Open final for the first time since Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick in 2006.

When you think of it that way — that an American will have a shot at a title no matter who advances — there really is no need to pick.

“Let the best man win come Friday — it’s going to be epic,” Tiafoe said after his quarterfinal win Tuesday night. “It’s going to be a fun one.”

<img alt="Barbara Barker" loading="lazy" width="88" height="104" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent" srcset="/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AZTJkYWI1NzQtNmJjYi00%3ANzQtNmJjYi00Y2E3ZTBi%2Fimage.jpg%3Ff%3DMugshot%26w%3D100%26q%3D1&w=96&q=75 1x, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AZTJkYWI1NzQtNmJjYi00%3ANzQtNmJjYi00Y2E3ZTBi%2Fimage.jpg%3Ff%3DMugshot%26w%3D100%26q%3D1&w=256&q=75 2x" src="http://www.bing.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AZTJkYWI1NzQtNmJjYi00%3ANzQtNmJjYi00Y2E3ZTBi%2Fimage.jpg%3Ff%3DMugshot%26w%3D100%26q%3D1&w=256&q=75"/> Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.

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Barker: Fritz-Tiafoe semifinal match — America, it’s beautiful!

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