Mumbai: Frances Tiafoe recalls a conversation Taylor Fritz had with him sitting on a flight a few years ago. Fritz, far from being a big talker, told Tiafoe they’d be the “No.1 and 2 Americans, leading the way” at some point.

“To come from him, I was like, Dang!” Tiafoe said. “It was 6am, I was pretty tired. But I was like — let’s do it.”

On Friday, Fritz and Tiafoe will walk inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium to face each other in the semi-finals of the US Open.

That’ll be the first all-American Grand Slam men’s singles semi-final since the 2005 US Open, where Andre Agassi beat Robby Ginepri. One among Fritz and Tiafoe will become the first American men’s singles Slam finalist since Andy Roddick at the 2009 Wimbledon. Roddick was also the last local face in the final of the US Open in 2006.

In the men’s game dominated by Europeans over the last couple of decades, two US men in the semis of a Slam with a guaranteed finalist is a breath of fresh air. Move across to the women’s draw and make that three in the last four of this US Open (before Jessica Pegula’s quarter-final against Iga Swiatek), with Emma Navarro’s breakthrough run this season and tournament.

There’s been a rich American flavour in their home Slam of 2024, giving a taste of the depth in US tennis’ current pool of talent. While the women’s game always had a consistent sprinkling of US champions in the recent years — Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Japanese-born American Naomi Osaka, 2023 champion Coco Gauff — it was the men’s game that was left without the feel of such home runs after the days Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Agassi.

Now the spread is balanced. And rich. Five Americans lie in the top 20 of the women’s singles rankings: Gauff (ranked 3rd), Pegula (6th), Danielle Collins (11th), Navarro (12th) and Madison Keys (14th). The men have as many in the ATP charts: Fritz (12th), Ben Shelton (13th), Tommy Paul (14th), Sebastian Korda (16th) and Tiafoe (20th).

They’ve all come from diverse backgrounds, are distinct personalities and have taken different paths to get to this level. Fritz — his mother was a former US Open quarterfinalist — and Korda — both his parents were former top pros — have deep tennis heritage. Tiafoe’s parents immigrated from Sierra Leone to the US in the 1990s, and the kid picked up the sport while his father worked in the maintenance unit of a tennis centre in Maryland. Shelton took the famed American collegiate route guided by his father, a former pro who was also his college coach.

All of them are in their early- or mid-twenties, and grew up knowing, playing with and against each other in a country where there’s no dearth of tennis infrastructure and opportunities to climb the ladder.

“We’ve spoken about it for years. This is the group. This is the group,” Tiafoe said of the collective American push after his quarter-final win that had Grigor Dimitrov retire at 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1.

“Once we all turned pro, we all pushed each other. Sometimes unspoken, sometimes we speak about it, but nobody wants to leave each other behind. It’s been a special thing to be a part of.

“We’ve all been knocking on the door. Taylor’s been in and out of the top 10; myself, top 10 last year; Tommy’s knocking on the door of the quarters; Ben’s being Ben. You put yourself in (such) positions, and it’s only a matter of time.”

That’s also something Fritz believed after making four Slam quarter-finals before being halted there on each occasion. The 26-year-old 6’5” stood the tallest among this pack over the last few years, reaching the world No.5 in 2023 and grabbing eight ATP titles. But a bigger push in a major eluded him, even as he saw Tiafoe (2022 US Open) and 21-year-old Shelton (2023 US Open) become Slam semifinalists before him. Yet, even as he kept falling short, Fritz was happy for his compatriots who did make the leap.

“I was pumped for them. I was always, like genuinely, really happy for my friends,” Fritz said. “If anything, it always gave me the confidence that I can do it too.”

That Fritz finally did it — he beat Alexander Zverev 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) for his first major quarter-final win — in his home Slam was, like he put it, fitting. And so it was to have Tiafoe, a fellow 26-year-old whom he has known and competed with since the under-14 days, share the stage with him. All along, the two only pushed each other.

“At times when I’m playing really bad and he’s doing alright, or vice-versa, we’ve always pushed each other,” Tiafoe said. “It’s great now that we get to compete with each other in such a big match. I’m happy for him. And I know he’s happy for me.”

That’s not to say either will give the other an inch in this all-American semi-final showdown in New York on Friday.

“It’s going to be epic,” Tiafoe said about the contest that will decide who becomes the first American male in 15 years to turn up for a Slam final. “First time since ’09. Hopefully it’s me.”

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