No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe came back from two sets down to beat Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Tuesday night at Flushing Meadows, reaching the US Open semifinals for the third time in five years. The all-American quarterfinal lasted 4 hours, 38 minutes.
Michelsen broke Tiafoe at love to open the fifth set and consolidated for a 3-0 lead. Tiafoe broke back in the fifth game, both men held from there, and the set went to a 10-point match tiebreak. Tiafoe took an early mini-break to lead 4-2, pushed it to 7-4, and closed the match with a forehand winner up the line to win the tiebreak 10-6.
A comeback the record book had not seen since Federer
It was the first time a man had recovered from two sets down in a US Open quarterfinal since Roger Federer did it against Gael Monfils in 2014. The personal history was worse than the tournament history: Tiafoe entered the night 2-17 in his career at majors when losing the first two sets, and 0-4 at the US Open specifically. Federer, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this summer, was the last man to do it.
Michelsen, 22, had been the only man to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set, and he was 0-3 lifetime in five-setters coming in. He controlled the first two sets and served for the match at 5-4 in the third, opening that game with consecutive double faults before Tiafoe broke back. Per NBC Sports, Michelsen crossed to the other side of the net after the handshake and cried on Tiafoe's shoulder at the end of his first career major quarterfinal.
The win moved Tiafoe alongside Andre Agassi as the only American men to reach three US Open semifinals this century, and returns him to the top 10 for the first time in three years. He also reached the final four in Flushing Meadows in 2022 and 2024.
The rest of Tuesday
Tiafoe will face the winner of No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 8 seed Ben Shelton. On the women's side, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat No. 6 Linda Noskova 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (7), and No. 3 Jessica Pegula beat No. 26 Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The women's draw had already produced this tournament's other outlier result, when Zheng Qinwen beat Iga Swiatek to reach the quarterfinals. The men's draw lost its biggest name in the opening round, when Mariano Navone beat Novak Djokovic in five sets.
Source: CBS Sports
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