Taylor Fritz through to the semifinals at the US Open by beating Alexander Zverev

For the second straight year, there is an American in the semifinals at the US Open. Taylor Fritz defeated Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals to move into the semis. Unlike last year, though, the American will not be facing Novak Djokovic. That was Ben Shelton in 2023 who played his behind off but was ultimately no match for the Serb. Fritz actually has a decent chance to win the event.

Zverev was playing some of the best tennis of his life over the last few months. He is a versatile player who can win on any surface. Fritz has become a decent clay-court player, but his best is on a hard court. By pushing through to the semifinals, he has reached that level for the first time in his career.

With the victory 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) win, Fritz will move up to No. 11 on the ATP tour. If he wins the US Open, he will move well into the top ten. Zverev will likely hold on to No. 2, though Daniil Medvedev could match his point total if the Russian wins the tournament.

Taylor Fritz into US Open semifinals after beating Alexander Zverev

Fritz beat Zverev because he was able to hold on in most of his service games and play the tie-breaks a lot better than the German. In fact, one might have assumed that Zverev would be the calmer player in the tie-breaks as he has reached a higher level of success than the American. Instead, Fritz seemed to be the player who had won a bunch of majors and Zverev was the novice.

To be fair to both players, they each played well enough to defeat most players on the ATP tour. Zverev hit a number of ridiculous shots on Fritz' serve. The difference was that the American was able to keep his level of play and not drop.

Next, Taylor Fritz will play either fellow American Frances Tiafoe or Grigor Dimitrov. If Tiafoe can get by Dimitrov, that would mean at least one American will reach the final for the first time since 2006. Since Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are out of the tournament, an American has a real chance to win for the first time since 2003 when Andy Roddick took home the title.

More tennis news and analysis: