New York [US]: Frances Tiafoe delivered a stunning all-round performance to defeat the ninth seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday at the US Open and secure a spot in the semi-finals here at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Tiafoe’s combination of brutal groundstrokes, impeccable serving and light net play earned the American a 7-6(3), 7-6(0), 6-4 quarter-final victory.
The American reeled off seven unanswered points in a perfect second-set tie-break, but Tiafoe’s level rarely dropped as he closed out a two-hour, 35-minute victory to charge to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final in style in New York.
The American’s plan of moving forward to pressure the ninth seed on the baseline was extremely effective, and he concluded the match having won 76 per cent (31/41) of points at the net.
“This is wild. This is crazy. I had the biggest win of my life 24 hours ago and came out and got another big win… Andrey’s a hell of a player, and to back it up, that’s huge. It’s tough to turn the page, but I did and now I’m in the semis,” said Tiafoe in his on-court interview.
“I feel so at home on courts like this. This court is unbelievable. [The crowd] gets so far behind me, I want to play, I want to give my best. I always find a way somehow on this court, I always play some great tennis and I have been. Let’s enjoy this, we’ve got two more,” he said.
“I’ll sit back and watch them battle and I’m keeping my feet up, so let them battle all night hopefully,” joked Tiafoe when asked if he would watch Alcaraz and Sinner’s quarter-final clash.
“But [they are] two great players, and it’s going to be tough come Friday, but I’m here for all they’ve got,” he added.
On the other hand, Casper Ruud was battling to keep his World No. 1 hopes alive and bidding to reach his first US Open semi-finals on Tuesday in New York. Yet the Norwegian showed no signs of pressure in defeating Italian Matteo Berrettini with a fine score of 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(4) quarter-final triumph at Flushing Meadows.
“That was a better start than I think I ever had before in a match,” ATP.com quoted Ruud as saying.
“Everything was going my way, I was hitting all the spots I needed to plus Matteo maybe didn’t serve as well as he usually does. I was able to take care of the chances that I got,” said Ruud, who had not been past the third round in four main-draw appearances in New York prior to this year.
“I got a little bit nervous towards the end of the second set because things were almost going too well. It’s good, but sometimes you can get over-excited and start to think you can walk on water… So I had to calm down a little bit, and luckily was able to serve out the second set, and the third set was very tough,” he added.
