Frances Tiafoe overcomes Andrey Rublev to reach U.S. Open semifinals
Frances Tiafoe celebrates after defeating Andrey Rublev in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Wednesday. Credit: Errol Anderson
When Frances Tiafoe walks out onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court — when he walks out in any professional tennis setting, really — he knows he goes out not just representing himself.
The 24-year-old from Maryland represents the future of U.S. men’s tennis, a fact only further hammered home when he defeated Andrey Rublev in straight sets Wednesday, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4, to become the first American man to advance to the U.S. Open semifinals since Andy Roddick did in 2006.
He also represents Black men in a predominantly white sport, and those striving for greatness without the benefits of country clubs and trust funds — growing up, as he did, sometimes sleeping at Junior Tennis Champions Center where his immigrant father from Sierra Leone worked as the head of maintenance.
It’s heady stuff, being the symbol of resilience and the American dream and even sports fairy tales, but as he pumped his fist and did a dance in front of 20,000 adoring fans, Tiafoe signaled that he was ready.
“You know, everyone loves a Cinderella story,” he said afterward. “Just trying to make one.”
Tiafoe, seeded 22, already accomplished some version of that in the fourth round, eliminating legend Rafael Nadal in a four-set match that turned a tennis darling into a national one. And by that measure, his dismantling of Rublev was a markedly less dramatic affair.
Despite close finishes in the first two sets, Tiafoe appeared confident, cool, driven, while his Russian opponent, seeded ninth, became increasingly frantic.
He’ll face the winner of Wednesday’s final quarterfinal match: No. 11 Jannik Sinner, 21, of Italy, against No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish phenom.
Tiafoe racked up 18 aces Wednesday with his powerful serve — one that clocked as high as 137 mph — and won 31 net points to Rublev’s 5. He also highlighted his flair for the dramatic so far, winning all six of his tiebreakers during this Open, including that devastating 7-0 clinic in the second set.
Tiafoe notched back-to-back aces then, one at 136 mph and another at 134, and, after his sixth ace, motioned at the Ashe crowd to keep up the noise, screaming, “That’s it. Come on!” (They did.)
“Best tiebreaker I will ever play,” Tiafoe said. “I didn’t really have any expectations obviously other than wanting to win it. I was thinking about the first point. I served . . . Things just started happening. It was honestly a laughable tiebreaker. You can’t make that up. Drop volley behind me. Lob return. He lets it bounce. I come in. Out of nowhere a drop volley again. Inside-out return to win.”
With Rublev clearly shaken, Tiafoe got to work in the third set — his match point, a 40-0 ace to center. And for a tennis player who’s always had the talent but at times in his young career struggled with consistency, the match appeared to be a further sign of progression.
The fact that it happened after beating Nadal — something that garnered him global attention, helped spread the story of his fairy-tale rise through tennis, and earned him a congratulatory tweet from LeBron James — only further pointed to his maturity, and his readiness for the big stage.
“Every time I win, I just want to inspire a bunch of people to just know that you can, [THAT]anything is possible,” he said. “At the end of the day, I love that because of Frances Tiafoe there are a lot of people of color playing tennis. That’s obviously a goal for me. That’s why I’m out here trying pretty hard.”
It’s also one of the reasons he wears a wristband that Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy gave to him. It says, “Believe. Why not me?”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
