Tiafoe 1st US man in US Open semifinals since Roddick in ’06

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Frances Tiafoe has become the first American man to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since 2006. The 24-year-old Tiafoe beat Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 on Wednesday while being backed by a boisterous partisan crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Tiafoe is seeded No. 22 and his first career semifinal at any Grand Slam tournament will come Friday against No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 Jannik Sinner. Tiafoe played aggressive tennis and used 18 aces along with strong net play to oust No. 9 Rublev, a Russian who dropped to 0-6 in major quarterfinals. No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka reached the women’s semifinals.