Francis Tiafoe is returning to the stage that defined his career.
Tiafoe (ranked 20th in the world) lost in a close match to fellow American Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last year, but got his revenge in the third round this year.
Tiafoe has emerged from nowhere to become one of tennis fans' favorites, beating the legendary Rafael Nadal in 2022, a stage that could set the tone for the next chapter of his career.
To ensure his return to the U.S. Open quarterfinals, the 27-year-old Tiafoe had to beat one of the toughest wild cards in this year's tournament.
He beat world No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the third round and then beat No. 28 Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 in the fourth round at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night.
Jason Szens, The New York Post
Tiafoe will next face ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Popyrin won the second set and nearly tied the score, but a 5-2 lead evaporated to 5-5, then a 6-5 lead went into a tiebreak, where Tiafoe won the tiebreak and the set. In the ninth game, Tiafoe came back from 0-40 down to beat Popyrin.
“I got a point, I got a point, and I was like, 'Whoa,'” Tiafoe said. “He gave me one, and I was like, 'Don't let me get two,' and then I was like, 'Don't let me get three,' and then I was like, 'I'm going to break now.' Honestly, I was pretty lucky.” [the fans]that would not have happened.”
After dropping the third set, Tiafoe broke Popyrin in the sixth game to win the fourth set and seal the victory.
There was little between Tiafoe and the 25-year-old Popyrin in the early stages, as they traded the first eight games of the first set, with both players holding serve.
Tiafoe finally broke that pattern.
He broke Popyrin in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead in the first set, then did his trademark fist pump and the Arthur Ashe crowd, overwhelmingly rooting for him, went wild. Tiafoe then cruised to a comfortable 10th game to take the opening set.
“Ever since I was a kid, I've dreamed of playing on this court,” Tiafoe said. “I used to play against the wall, so I wanted to play on this court. … It's such an iconic court. I wanted to be part of this court that's named after Arthur Ashe. This court brings out the best in me.”
Sunday marked the first time Tiafoe and Popyrin faced each other.
For a while, Tiafoe's trajectory was heading in the wrong direction.
Jason Szens, The New York Post
After his career soared with a win over Nadal in the 2022 quarterfinals, Tiafoe, who wasn't highly rated at junior level, struggled.
He failed to get past the third round in seven of his next eight majors, reaching only the quarterfinals at last year's U.S. Open, where he lost to Shelton.
In fact, the only time Tiafoe has made it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament was in the 2022 U.S. Open semifinals, when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
Tiafoe isn't the highest-ranked American, but his cross-cultural appeal makes him the most popular.
Much of that came from his victory over Nadal in 2022, with New York City crowds continuing to treat him as a hometown favorite.
And with Alcaraz and Djokovic already eliminated, it's more open than it's been in years for an American player to end the country's Grand Slam title drought. The only former U.S. Open champion left is world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev.
But first and foremost, Tiafoe is back in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
And his opponent will be another star player in Dimitrov, who has a 3-1 record against him.
Fireworks can be expected.
“He's very talented and has been one of the most talented players for a long time,” Tiafoe said. “He's playing great. He's starting to get great form again in the second half of his career. … I'm going to let him fight for it and win it.”
