It was a historic night in Queens, N.Y., on Friday, as Taylor Fritz emerged victorious in a five-set thriller over fellow countryman Frances Tiafoe, becoming the first American man to reach the U.S. Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006.
Fritz, who won 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4, 6–1, is also the first American man to reach the final of any major since Roddick in 2009.
During a post-match interview with fellow American tennis player Christopher Eubanks, Fritz became emotional when asked "what goes through his mind" when he hears that he will be playing in the U.S. Open final on Sunday.
You can sense the emotion as to what this means for @Taylor_Fritz97 🥹 pic.twitter.com/N01DEwrtYF
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2024
"It's the reason why I do what I do. It's the reason why I work so hard. I'm in the finals of the U.S. Open," Fritz said as he fought off tears.
He is indeed. Things looked bleak for Fritz at one point, as he was down two sets to one—and two games away from losing in the fourth set—with Tiafoe seemingly in the driver's seat. But Fritz dug deep and rallied to even things up at 4–4 in the fourth, then took a commanding 4–0 lead in the fifth set with Tiafoe seemingly cramping up.
If Fritz is to become the first American man to win any major since Roddick in 2003, he'll have to best one of the sport's rising stars in Jannik Sinner, the 2024 Australian Open champion who was, somewhat controversially, not suspended despite failing a pair of drug tests back in March for a substance it was ruled he unintentionally utilized.
The men's U.S. Open final will begin on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Taylor Fritz Moved to Tears Discussing What Reaching U.S. Open Final Means to Him.
