Tiafoe’s Run Ends In Semis

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

 

When Francis Tiafoe stepped on the court last Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing New York to face 19 year old Carlos Alcaraz from Spain, his confidence was as high as the retractable roof. Why would it not. On his way to the semi-final match, Tiafoe took down 22 time Grand Slam Champion Rafael Nadal in 4 sets Tiafoe took the first set, lost the second set and rallied to win the next two sets against a player that has been known to push his opponents to their limit before coming out on top. The win over Nadal catapulted Tiafoe to the quarter finals against 9^th seeded Andrey Rublev where he would make history.

 

The first two sets were grueling as they both went to tie breaks. Tiafoe came out on top in both sets fueled by a frenzied crowd exploding after every point he won. The third set saw Tiafoe break Rublev in the 9^th game (the only break in the three sets) to finish the set 6-4. In getting to the semi-finals, Tiafoe became the first American man to qualify for the first time in 16 years. More impressive, he became the first African American male to qualify since the legendary icon Arthur Ashe. Tiafoe knew his opponent Alcaraz was coming off a marathon match playing more than 5 hours against Casper Rudd which did not end until 2:50am. Tiafoe was hoping that match might give him an edge. It did not.

 

It was the first time both players had advanced to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam Tournament. It started out well for Tiafoe as he took the first set as it went to a tie break (8-6) but the Spaniard righted himself the next two sets coming away with 6-3 and 6-1 wins. Tiafoe would not quit, pushing the fourth set to another tie break, coming out on top (7-5) to force a fifth and deciding set. In winning the tie break, Tiafoe set a U.S. Open record going 8-0. 

 

The fifth set came down to unforced errors and winners in the set won by Alcaraz 6-3 sending him to the Finals. Tiafoe committed 52 unforced errors to 37 for Alcaraz who also had 59 winners. Tiafoe had 51 winners.

 

It was an extremely gratifying tournament for Tiafoe as he picked up where Serena Williams left off riding the wave of the New York crowd. Afterwards, a very emotional Tiafoe, who fought back tears, said, “this one hurts. This one really, really, hurts. I came here wanting to win to win the U.S. Open. I feel like l let you guys down.” Tiafoe promised he would be back. “I will win this thing one day,” he said. “I’m sorry guys.”

 

Francis Tiafoe had nothing to be sorry about. The 24 year old from Nigerian decent, raised in Maryland, established himself as force to reckoned with in future Grand Slam tournaments.

 

As far as Carlos Alcaraz, he became the youngest player to become #1 in the world in men’s tennis history after taking out Casper Rudd 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 to capture the 2022 U.S. Open. Next up for Alcaraz is the Davis Cup where it will be played on his home turf in Spain.