Frances Tiafoe says he was bound to get ‘lucky’ at some point as he produced an epic win over Alex Michelsen at the US Open.
The American was all but out of this year’s tournament in New York having been two sets and match point down.
However, Tiafoe dug deep and produced a spectacular comeback which saw the 11th seed win a dramatic fifth set tiebreak to reach a second US Open semi-final.
After the match Tiafoe admitted his level wasn’t very good to start off but stated that the comeback showed how unique of a sport tennis is, “I mean, I’m a tough critic of myself. It wasn’t good, let’s put it that way. It wasn’t good,” Tiafoe acknowledged in his press conference.
“Three out of five is a blessing, because you have time to get it together. I definitely waited for the last minute. Yeah, and then I was able to turn it around. I was able to finally get momentum, see some balls on the court, get in some rallies, find myself at the net, into some good shots to get the crowd going.
“It’s tennis, man. You see a little opening window, you see turning points. One point can, all of a sudden you’re, four hours later, in a battle just because of one point. Tennis is a unique sport like that.”
It took a lot of effort for Tiafoe but luck was on his side as he launched a spectacular comeback to book his place in the last four.
After some rough results Tiafoe is happy that luck was finally on his side, “That’s tennis, man. You’re going to win some; you’re going to lose some. I wasn’t thinking about that. I wasn’t thinking about how many tough ones I’ve had,” Tiafoe reflected on past Grand Slam quarter-finals.
“If anything, like, I’m bound to get lucky at this point, right, because I’ve had those, but I’ve also won a lot of great matches in slams and other tournaments.
“No, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just thinking about trying to be in the moment and continuing to push, because yeah, it’s the quarterfinals of a slam. You got to leave it out there. At the end, I was cool with whatever result, because I was giving him what I had that day, even though it wasn’t my best stuff, but I was giving him everything I had.“
Now, Tiafoe is into a second US Open semi-final and will be hoping he can reach a first Grand Slam final.
The 11th seed says he will be ready for Friday as he looks for a new personal milestone, “Obviously we have two days, which is great. Kind of get yourself ready for the last final push for this thing,” Tiafoe said.
“I’m just going to take it day by day and enjoy this right now. I’ll be ready come Friday. I’m just a different person in general. Those two runs were great, something I will cherish forever, but I’m not that person who I was when I made onein 2022 and when I made one in ’24. I’m not that person.
“I’m excited to see what this me does come Friday.”
Next up for Tiafoe is fellow American Ben Shelton after the American’s history making win over Carlos Alcaraz.
The American said an all-American semi-final is great news for US tennis, “I mean, I think it’s incredible. I mean, especially on the men’s side,” Tiafoe suggested.
“But the guys, we’ve been doing pretty well. Someone is always going deep in majors. Fritz has been playing great for a long time, Ben and myself. We have Learner. Obviously you have Alex Michelsen, Tommy. There’s a good group of us that are playing really good.
“I mean, hopefully we can do the thing, and that’s ultimately try to do the thing after two weeks. That’s like the next big step. I think U.S. tennis is in a great place. So whatever they’re doing aboveboard is great and continue to do so.”
