At the end of more than four and a half hours of escalating drama inside the world’s biggest tennis stadium, a devastated Alex Michelsen fell into Frances Tiafoe’s arms just outside the tramlines, sobbing uncontrollably. Tiafoe took his younger countryman in an embrace and held him there, the victor consoling the vanquished in the aftermath of an extraordinary comeback that had carried him, somehow, into the US Open semi-finals. Only a couple of hours earlier, the 28-year-old Tiafoe had been two sets down and two points from elimination in the third set, with Michelsen within touching distance of the biggest victory of his young career.
Instead, Tiafoe roared back from the brink to win a quarter-final that will be long remembered in New York, outlasting Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Tuesday afternoon to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows for the third time in five years. Now he will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Ben Shelton on Friday for a place in his first grand slam final. The pulsating contest unfolded inside a half-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium amid an oddly subdued atmosphere for an all-American quarter-final, with many spectators taking a break after Aryna Sabalenka’s grueling three-set win over Linda Noskova in the day’s opener.
The setting was hardly ideal for the 11th-seeded Tiafoe, who had played all four previous rounds in the more intimate cauldron of Louis Armstrong Stadium next door, where he thrives on the crowd’s energy and has yet to lose in 10 career matches. And then, as it went along, the energy was incredible, as it always is.” For much of the day it was Michelsen, the unseeded 22-year-old from the Orange County suburb of Laguna Hills, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, who appeared bound for the signature win of a career that has come spectacularly into bloom over the past 10 days. The opening set lurched through four breaks in the first five games before Michelsen was first to find his footing.
Tiafoe fought off a set point at 4-5, only for Michelsen to hold at love before pouncing again at 6-5, breaking his opponent’s serve to close out the set after 50 minutes. Michelsen tightened his grip early in the second as Tiafoe continued to play from behind on his serve, falling behind in five of his first seven service games while getting broken three times. Michelsen broke for 3-1, fought off two break points to consolidate, then broke again for 5-1 after getting the best of a punishing 24-shot exchange before serving out the set.
The match appeared in hand after Michelsen broke again early in the third, eased through his service games and survived a gut-check eighth game, where he fell behind love-40 but calmly brushed aside all three break points before holding for 5-3, including the second with a 134mph ace. One hold of serve from becoming the first American man to reach the last four at the US Open without dropping a set since Jim Courier in 1991, the nerves finally surfaced as Michelsen opened with back-to-back double faults before Tiafoe broke to level at 5-all. Thrown a lifeline and suddenly energized, Tiafoe held for 6-5, then pressed again as Michelsen served to force a tiebreak.
Michelsen saved one set point with a 133mph ace, but Tiafoe manufactured another and this time Michelsen cracked, missing a forehand volley to hand Tiafoe the set 7-5 and drag the match into a fourth. It’s not good.’ I feel like I just handed it to him. Then after that he started playing really good.” By now the near-capacity crowd was back in their seats and the complexion of the match had shifted completely.
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