NEW YORK — About 20 minutes after Frances Tiafoe became the first American to reach the U.S. Open men’s singles semifinals since 2006, he met up in an Arthur Ashe Stadium foyer with a host of friends, Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal among them.
Everyone traded hearty hugs and huge smiles. Tiafoe shouted “Let’s pose for a dope photo!”, and they obliged. As the nine-person line stood together, someone yelled “Throw up a ‘Dub!'”, so Tiafoe and others formed a “W” — as in “win” — by joining thumbs and index fingers on both hands. Tiafoe’s girlfriend ran through the nearby double doors, jumped into his arms, gave him a kiss, then wiped away lipstick from his mouth.
Most assuredly a showman, and someone striving for years for this sort of success on big stages, Tiafoe sure is enjoying the ride — as are his pals, his parents and the partisan fans, who last celebrated a Grand Slam trophy for a man from the United States two decades ago.
Tiafoe managed the tricky task of following up the biggest win of his career, against 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round Monday, with another milestone victory, beating No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 behind the backing of a boisterous crowd on Wednesday.
“I love to show the world what I can do,” said the 24-year-old Tiafoe, who is seeded 22nd. “I just want to go out there and try to give the crowd what they want — and that’s me getting the win.”