Taylor Fritz stuns Alexander Zverev in four sets to reach US Open semi-final

When Taylor Fritz saw a golden chance to make it to his first grand slam semi-final, he didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity. He pushed himself to the limit, taking risks and trying to assert his dominance in the match. Despite making mistakes at crucial moments and giving Alexander Zverev opportunities to take the lead, Fritz remained focused on shaping his own fate until the very last point.

Fritz, the best player in the United States, was recognized for his bravery as he advanced to the semi-finals of a major tennis tournament for the first time in his career at the US Open. He defeated Zverev, the fourth highest ranked player, after a closely contested match on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In an exciting competition that became more unpredictable after Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated early, the match between Zverev and Fritz was especially interesting. Both born in 1997, just six months apart, they were top-ranked junior players before making the jump to the professional tour with high expectations as promising players of their era.

Zverev quickly became successful, but Fritz took longer to achieve the same level of success. When Zverev won his first Masters 1000 title in 2017, Fritz was ranked outside the top 100. It took Fritz another five years to reach the top 20, at the age of 26.

Even though Fritz has a strong first serve and performs well on the court, he doesn't have the innate athleticism of Zverev. He has had to put in a lot of effort to find ways to succeed in different aspects of his game, such as becoming more aggressive with his forehand, improving his movement over time, and learning how to handle pressure situations. Despite reaching the top 10, it has taken Fritz even longer to excel at major tournaments. In his third quarter-final of the year, he showed further progression in his skills and development.

On the other hand, this game for Zverev highlighted his struggles on the court. Zverev has had a successful career, winning six Masters 1000 titles, the ATP Finals, an Olympic gold medal, and making it to two grand slam finals.

Even though Zverev has the skills to win grand slam titles, his mental game has let him down in crucial moments. He hit a total of 52 winners in the match, more than his opponent Fritz, but when it came to important points, Zverev played defensively and hoped for errors from his opponent instead.

Every year, people are concerned about the state of American men's tennis at the US Open. The memories of Andy Roddick's 2003 victory, the last time an American man won a grand slam title, and the impressive history of US male tennis players weigh heavily on the competition. But in recent years, there has been a shift in the story as the current generation of US tennis players has had some small victories.

The US Open started with five American male players in the top 20 – Fritz, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, and Frances Tiafoe. Although they haven't had any extraordinary accomplishments yet, they have been getting better and are reaching their prime years just as the tennis tour enters a new era without the dominant big three.

Instead of playing against a tennis player who has won many grand slam titles and has been playing for a long time, Fritz will play against either the ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov or his fellow American Tiafoe, who is seeded 20th. The match between them will take place overnight. No matter who wins, there will be a player reaching the grand slam final for the first time this year in New York.

Meanwhile, Emma Navarro continued to impress in New York, her hometown, as the 23-year-old followed up her victory against Coco Gauff by beating another former top-two player, Paula Badosa, with a score of 6-2, 7-5. This win helped her reach her first grand slam semi-final in her career.