American players Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz will clash in one part of the men’s singles semi-finals at the 2024 US Open. A thrilling finish is expected at the final Grand Slam of the year, but whoever reaches the semi-finals will have to beat the winner of the other matchup between Jack Draper and Jannik Sinner.
Tiafoe and Fritz advanced to their quarterfinal matches on Tuesday, while No. 25 Draper and No. 1 Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev, respectively, on Wednesday. Tiafoe, seeded 20th, and Fritz, seeded 12th, will compete for the right to face the winner of that second tie on Friday.
Depending on the result, he could be a favorite over Draper or a significant underdog over Sinner. Sinner is the tournament’s top seed and needed four sets to beat Medvedev in their last quarterfinal match, but he is still a popular choice to win it all.
Sinner, 23, had some trouble in the first set, fighting off two break points and converting two of his three to win 6-2. But Medvedev came back in the second set and raced out to a 5-0 lead, including fending off a break attempt by Sinner before converting two aces to win the fifth game. The third game came back to Sinner, who won 82 percent of his first serves. Things were even closer in the fourth set, but Medvedev’s energy slowly waned as Sinner kept up the pressure.
In the end, Sinner won 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, his second major win over Medvedev this season. Sinner won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year (against Medvedev), and had the best semifinal performance of his career at the French Open.
Draper, seeded 25th, pulled off a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 upset win over 10th seed Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals. He was in control of the match from the start and picked up a big win against his first-seeded opponent of the tournament. Draper is enjoying his highest singles ranking yet and is set to make his first appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal, reaching the second round of the Australian Open, French Open and the US Open. wimbledon earlier this year.
Although Tiafoe has played strong tennis so far, Fritz has had a more impressive run up to the quarterfinals. He beat his first three opponents in straight sets, and then faced two matches where he was the underdog: against eighth seed Casper Ruud and fourth seed Alexander Zverev. Fritz needed four sets to beat both, but he prevailed over Ruud, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, and Zverev, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) and reached his first Grand Slam semifinal.
The 26-year-old Fritz has already had his best showings at all four Grand Slams this year. Reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as well as reaching the fourth round at the French Open and this semifinal, are his best performances ever at major tournaments. He also has a 6-1 lead over Tiafoe in their head-to-head history.
Tiafoe hasn’t had as much success, but this semifinal equals his best Slam performance since reaching here in 2022. His game was nearly over when he lost two sets to No. 13 Ben Shelton, but he eventually won that match in five sets to advance to the round of 16. He is coming off a quarterfinal win over No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, who suffered an injury and had to drop out after losing two of the first three sets.
The men’s semifinals are scheduled for Friday, September 6. They will be played at Arthur Ashe Stadium after a day of rest, and the women’s semifinals will be on Thursday. The first of the two men’s matches should start around 3 pm ET, while the second match will be played under lights at 7 pm.
Television and streaming coverage is provided by ESPN and ESPN Plus, and the semifinals will be live on the former. Below, you can find the schedule for the men’s semifinals and, below that, a look at each competitor’s path through the tournament to the final round.
US Open Tennis Men’s Semifinal
No. 12 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 20 Frances Tiafoe (approx. 3 p.m. ET)
No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 25 Jack Draper (approx. 7 p.m. ET)
No. 12 Taylor Fritz advances to the semifinals
Defeated. Camilo Ugo Carabelli 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Defeated. Matteo Berrettini, 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-1
def. Francisco Comesaña, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Defeated No. 8 Casper Ruud, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Defeated No. 4 Alexander Zverev, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)
No. 20 Frances Tiafoe reaches the semifinals
Defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-1, 0-1
Defeated No. 13 Ben Shelton, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3
Defeated No. 28 Alexei Popyrin, 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3
Defeated no. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 (retired)
No. 25 Jack Draper’s journey to the semifinals
Zhizhen Zhang, 6-3, 6-0, 4-0 (retired)
Defeated. Facundo Diaz Acosta, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Final: Botic van de Zandschulp, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Defeated. Tomas Machac, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2
Defeated. No. 10 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
Number 1 Jannik Sinner’s journey to the semi-finals
Defeated Mackenzie McDonald, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
Defeated. Alex Michelson, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
Defeated Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
Defeated No. 14 Tommy Paul, 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-1
Defeated. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4