This was technicolor tennis that leaped off your screen, grabbed your throat and clutched at your heart.
Even in Friday’s open air, this feel-good matchup on Ashe created a wall of emotion that provided a perfect soundtrack to this Star-Spangled U.S. Open semifinal match that will not soon be forgotten.
Two 26-year-old Americans, friends from adolescence for more than a dozen years, were in the crucible. Or perhaps it’s better to describe them as being in the ring, a squared circle of 78 x 27 dimensions.
Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz were gladiators, they were entertainers, they were elite tennis players who put on a show in Queens all while operating under the weight of history with each competitor striving to advance to the first Grand Slam of final of either’s career.
It was not winner-take-all but it was winner now having the chance to take all by advancing to Sunday’s final against the No. 1 seed and top-ranked player in the world, Jannik Sinner, after his 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 semifinal victory over Jack Draper.
And it will be Fritz facing the Italian after emerging with a 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory, roaring back after pretty much chasing the match for nearly two hours in an epic to become the first American man to, well, you most certainly have this committed to memory, the way Yankees fans have “2009” etched into their gray matter.
So here is the condensed version after two decades-plus:
That would be Fritz, ranked 12th in the world, becoming the first native-born Yank to advance to a Slam final since Andy Roddick’s 2009 Wimbledon defeat against Roger Federer that included a 16-14 decisive fifth set tiebreak.
That would be Fritz becoming the first Yank to advance to the Open final since Andy Roddick was beaten by Federer in 2006.
That would be Fritz having the opportunity to become the first American to win a Grand Slam since Roddick triumphed right here in Queens in 2003.
Those are a lot of firsts.
The Red, White and Blue semifinal matchup was once a perennial at the Open. This constituted the 17th-such incestuous affair but the first since Andre Agassi took out Robby Ginepri in five sets in 2005.
Has anyone heard the word “pickleball” over the fortnight?
Didn’t think so.
On this night and through the tournament, the Big Three seemed like history in the alternative sense just like the guys and gals who have their plaques displayed on the champions walkway. On this night and through the tournament, the Open did not miss them. Even if it might take two decades, time comes for everyone.
“I think it opened the floodgates, for sure. I think guys are gonna start believing they can go deep in slams,” said an emotionally wounded Tiafoe. “Fritz, now he’s made the finals. None of us younger guys have done that.
“See what happens on Sunday, but I think a lot of guys are going to be able to think they can do it, especially in this one where later in the season, stuff like that with American crowds and what have you.
“I think it’s big. I think it’s big, shows that it’s definitely possible,” said Tiafoe, who admitted nerves got the better of him. “As I said, again, the game’s open.
“Even with Alcaraz and Sinner and these other guys, it’s not what it used to be.”
Tiafoe had set the tempo through the opening three sets in which each player owned stretches of dominance on their serves. Fritz rolled off 23 consecutive points on his serve to close out the second set after Tiafoe had won 18 consecutive points on his serve earlier in the set.
Serving dominance was punctuated by short rallies. But there was also a flurry of extended points that ended with punctuation marks. Tiafoe struck the ball from the baseline nearly as well as his noted ball-striking opponent and was able to move Fritz around.
But a 31-shot rally that Fritz won serving 3-3 at 30-15 seemed to energize the Californian while enervating Tiafoe. The match tilted, Fritz had control of one point after another. Tiafoe was never the same. Support from the majority of the house could not elevate him.
Fritz was ascendant.
Two years ago, after proclaiming that he thought he had a pretty good chance to win the crown, Fritz flamed out in a first-round defeat to an American named Brandon Holt, who reached his heights ranked at 180.
Fritz has grown. He has incorporated steel into his mental game. The serve has always been there. The big strokes have always been there. The psyche, maybe not. On this night, it sure was.
There was a mountain of pressure on both Tiafoe and Fritz. There has been talk of how the young Americans have bonded so well in a one-for-all and all-for-one ethos so that when an American does finally break this drought, it will feel like all of them have done it.
The truth is, if an American is going to break this drought here and on Sunday by toppling the best player in the world, it will be Taylor Fritz.
