Taylor Fritz will play in his first Grand Slam final as he defeated compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-1 at the US Open.
The American number one is into his maiden Grand Slam final and has done it on home soil after defeating Tiafoe in five sets.
After winning a Masters 1000 title in the past, Fritz has now broken new ground at the US Open and will now face world number one Jannik Sinner in the final.
Speaking after the match Fritz spoke about the contest as he came back from two sets to one to reach the final, “I mean, it was a crazy match. I think a lot of it was just about handling the moment and the pressure. He was playing at a very high level, I felt like, in the third and fourth sets,” Fritz said in his post-match press conference.
“It was really about just staying in it and kind of just withstanding how much pressure he was putting on me from the baseline with how he was, I mean, just either pulling me off the court on every shot or taking the ball super early, changing directions, which is, like, it’s so hard to do what he was doing just consistently.
“It was really just about trying to withstand it for as long as I could, keep holding serve and apply the scoreboard pressure and just hope that at a certain point that the errors are going to come a little more, I’m going to get a little more looks to attack and be aggressive. It got to that point in the end, and I finally started to get some mistakes from him, and some balls that I could, you know, look to be a little more aggressive on.”
Fritz is now the first male American since Andy Roddick in 2009 to reach a Grand Slam final as he now targets a first Grand Slam title.
Speaking on the match Fritz admitted he was emotional and described reaching the US Open final as a ‘dream come true,’ “It hit me when Banks said the thing about how I’m in the finals and the crowd was cheering. It’s just kind of like how I am, I’m more of an emotional person when I’m happy,” Fritz stated.
“When I’m really happy I cry at happy endings of movies and like not at sad stuff. That’s kind of just how I am. So it’s, yeah, it’s just joy, like, the crowd cheering and kind of that realization, like wow, I’m in, like, the finals of the US Open. It’s such a lifelong, I guess, dream come true, something I’ve worked my whole life for to be in this situation.
“I think just kind of like realizing that got me a little bit choked up.”
Now Fritz takes on Australian Open champion Sinner for a chance at Grand Slam glory with their head-to-head record at 1-1.
When asked about the final, Fritz admitted he is confident that he can stun the world number one and claim the biggest title of his career, “I’ve always enjoyed playing him. To be honest, I don’t think that I’m gonna be put in a more, like, stressful situation than I was today than playing in a final,” Fritz revealed ahead of his first Grand Slam final.
“I think today was much more stressful than me playing the final. I just feel good. I have a feeling I’m going to come out and play really well and win. When I play good tennis, I think that level is good enough to win.
“It’s different from playing the World No. 1 who you’re probably not going to be the favourite against. But I think I’ve always played well against Jannik. I think we’re 1 and 1. It’s been a while since we played but last time he got me in three at Indian Wells.
“I don’t know, he strikes, he hits the ball big, he’s like a very strong ball striker, but I feel like I always hit the ball really nice off of his ball. Yeah, I don’t know, I think I typically play well against him.”
Sunday will also be a first for Sinner who is competing in his first ever US Open final with the match on Sunday set to start at 7pm BST.
