Francis Tiafoe is clearly comfortable under the U.S. Open lights.
The Maryland native has reached the quarterfinals three straight years in Flushing and will look to reach his second consecutive semifinal in his last three appearances at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center with a win over Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday night.
Dimitrov is not a stranger to Grand Slam semi-finals, having reached them three times in his illustrious career, but has not reached the semi-finals of a major tournament since 2019.
This could be the 33-year-old's last chance to win one of the big matches.
Dimitrov vs Tiafoe predictions
The 2024 season looks interesting for Tiafoe and Dimitrov.
In the former case, things were going badly for much of the year until Tiafoe picked up steam during the second half of the North American summer tour.
The 26-year-old was eliminated in the first round of the Canadian Masters but fought back to reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters and is also enjoying a strong showing at the US Open.
Tiafoe didn't drop a set in his first two matches before scoring a minor upset in the round of 32 against up-and-coming American Ben Shelton.
He made it to the quarterfinals after beating in-form Alexei Popyrin relatively quickly in the round of 16.
Tiafoe's offensive prowess has been on full display so far, but he was also buoyed by a raucous crowd and did a great job of riding the wave without getting too carried away.
In the past, one might be forgiven for questioning whether Dimitrov could keep his cool in such situations, but the Bulgarian has played with remarkable stoicism this year, making very few mistakes at the U.S. Open.
Dimitrov didn't drop a set in his first three matches and then fought hard to beat Andrey Rublev in five sets in the round of 16.
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Both players have great offensive power and neither has the experience advantage, so this situation comes down to being very nit-picky.
Dimitrov has been a more consistent player overall this year and has a 3-1 record against Tiafoe, but he remains a formidable opponent.
There is very little difference between the two at this point and it should be a classic match under the lights.
Betting: Over 4.5 Sets (+195, FanDuel)
