‘Job’s not done’ for first-time Slam semifinalist Taylor Fritz at 2024 US Open
Only a handful of American men have reached three or more Grand Slam quarterfinals in a single season since 2000: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and, as of late Tuesday afternoon at the 2024 US Open, a rangy 6-foot-5 Southern Californian named Taylor Fritz.
Fritz, 26, has led the charge for American men since he turned pro in 2015, the year he won the US Open boys’ singles title. He was the first among contemporaries Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe to win an ATP Masters 1000 trophy, the first to reach the 50-win mark at the majors. Last year, he climbed to a career-high No. 5 in the ATP rankings, the first to do so from his homeland since Roddick nearly a decade-and-a-half earlier.
But until this fortnight at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Fritz had never reached the semifinal round at any of the four biggest tournaments in the sport, something both Paul and Tiafoe had already accomplished.
“I was always happy for them, honestly, like, pumped for them. I think the mental coping that I was doing for it was, well, every time I was in the quarters, I played Djokovic. I think that was my way to just protect my ego,” laughed Fritz, who in his 33rd career Grand Slam appearance finally got over the hump with a clutch 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) defeat of fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.
“No, I was always genuinely just really happy for my friends to see them have the success,” he continued, “and, if anything, it always gave me the confidence that I can do it, too.”
According to Fritz’s coach, Michael Russell, his team never had to harp on the glaring hole in his resume. Like their charge, they believed that if they kept honing his game, his time would indeed come.
“As far as getting over that hump, no, we would never talk about, ‘Hey, you haven’t been to the semifinals of a Slam before,’ because you’re not really breeding the positivity factor to it,” said Russell. “It’s more about, ‘You’ve been in this position before and come out here and use your weapons that you have and use the new weapons that we’re trying to create and just go out there and play your game, use the crowd, love the excitement and the actual competition and battle.’”
And that’s exactly what Fritz did in front of a partisan crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Day 9, standing tall against the 6-foot-6 Zverev and effectively beating him at his own game.
“I think the way I came out today was different, because I just have been in this situation enough times,” said Fritz. “I think a question I got asked pretty much every time I lost in the quarterfinals was, ‘What’s it going to take to go further,’ and the answer I gave was always, ‘Just keep putting myself in these situations, and I’ll become more comfortable in these situations and get better.’ You know, that’s definitely what happened now. The quarterfinals didn’t feel like this big thing to me like it has, I guess, in the past.”
Fritz won’t have much time to celebrate his accomplishment. He moves on to face either his countryman Tiafoe or Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals on Friday.
“It’s cool I’m in the semis,” he said, “but I very much have the mindset of, ‘The job’s not done,’ and I keep taking it one match at a time like I’ve been all tournament and focus on the next match ahead of me.”
“He’s been on the cusp of getting to the semifinals, and then to do it here at the US Open, I mean, it’s fantastic,” said Russell. “He’s super excited and so is the team. There’s always a lot of talk of the next American to win a Grand Slam, and pretty far from it still, but we’re one step closer. I thought he did a great job of managing his emotions today. We’re just really proud of the way he handled the situation. Mini celebration and then tomorrow, just get right back to work.”
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