Of all the American hopefuls at the 2026 US Open, few likely thought it would be Alex Michelsen that stated the strongest claim to maybe win the title, becoming the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2003 to do so.
Yet, through the first four rounds, Michelsen hadn't dropped a set. He was using his serve to consistently put himself in a position to keep opponents at bay, and then taking advantage of a lot of his opportunities to break. He was definitely playing in the best form of his young career, one that might be able to challenge Carlos Alcaraz should the two meet in New York.
He first had to get past Frances Tiafoe, however. Tiafoe is a great showman who keeps off a crowd, especially one in New York. He has reached the semifinals of the major before, and should Michelsen get a lead, his nerves might hamper him from closing out the match.
Frances Tiafoe stuns Alex Michelsen at the US Open
In the opening set, Michelsen was broken in the first game, but then broke immediately back. In the fourth game, the younger American got another break, but Tiafoe was the one to break right back. That would be the end of Tiafoe's hope for a while. At 6-5, Michelsen got yet another break and took the opening set.
That appeared to relieve some of the stress on him, and he played more freely in the second set. His return game rose in level, and Tiafoe struggled to hold. He didn't help himself, though, landing just 35 percent of his first serves in the set. Michelsen was also the more aggressive player, playing 13 net points to just four for Tiafoe.
Michelsen's fundamental tennis was outperforming Tiafoe's, and the 22-year-old took the second set 6-3. He began set three by getting yet another break of Tiafoe, and he simply needed to hold to take the match. Still, he had been broken several times, and there was no guarantee he could serve out the match.
At 4-3, Michelsen was down 0-40 on serve, but he roared back to take the game, showing the kind of maturity that he appears to be understanding he needs quickly. He didn't panic, but served with confidence as if he was ahead 40-0 in the game. He was a game away from making his first semifinal at a major.
His nerves would catch up to him after Tiafoe held to get to 4-5, however. Michelsen was broken easily, and suddenly, the third set was back at 5-all. The Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd was rejuvenated by the sudden rise of Frances Tiafoe. This was compounded by Tiafoe getting another break of Michelsen to finish off the set 7-5.
Tiafoe wasn't done, though. He got a break of Michelsen in the second game of the fourth set after a hold of serve, and then he followed that with his first hold of serve at love. He led the fourth set 3-0 in minutes, and the match was trending toward a fifth-set decider. At that point, Tiafoe had won seven straight games.
Michelsen tried to fight back, but ultimately fell short, 6-3. Tiafoe had at least temporarily left behind his unforced errors and was playing with poise. He was the one controlling the pace of play and seemingly had all the momentum entering the fifth and final set for a spot in the semifinals.
Somehow, though, Michelsen didn't allow himself to fold. He could have unintentionally allowed Tiafoe to dominate the final set, but the 22-year-old didn't, and the match might have changed his future before the eyes of those fans watching the match. The young American jumped out to a 3-0 lead after getting a break in the second game.
Like everything else in the match, though, the set wouldn't be as easy as it seemed. Tiafoe got the break back, and the set was back to 4-all. At 30-15 with Michelsen serving, he hit a ridiculously good lob to take a 40-15 advantage and served out the game to get to 5-4. Once again, he was a game away from taking the match.
He wouldn't get home so easily. Tiafoe held, and then Michelsen led 6-5. A tie-break was expected as Tiafoe had improved his serve as the match had grown old. It was stunning tennis by both players, who had to be extremely tired and were just trying to gut out a victory. Tiafoe held to get to 6-all, and a 10-point tie-break was needed to decide a four-hour-plus match.
The tie-break was, accordingly, tight, but then Tiafoe jumped to a 7-4 lead after originally being tied at 4-all. Nothing could be taken for granted, however; the match wouldn't allow it. In the end, it was Tiafoe who took the tie-break 10-6, capping arguably the great comeback of his carrer.
In the semifinals of the 2026 US Open, Frances Tiafoe will play the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton. No matter who is involved, the match will be a must-watch for tennis fans.
Add us as a preferred source on Google