Frances Tiafoe began celebrating, exulting the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that helped lift him off the mat after dropping the first two sets in an epic U.S. Open comeback.
Then Tiafoe saw his fellow American, Alex Michelsen, walking toward his chair after the most heartbreaking moment of his young tennis career.
Tiafoe paused his jubilant moment to race over to Michelsen to embrace him with the cameras there to catch the tearful exchange.
“As soon as I hugged him I saw he was crying already and I was like, ‘Man I know, I’ve been there already, twice to be fair.’ Obviously I wasn’t serving to get into the semis,” Tiafoe said on ESPN, referencing his brutal five-set exits at the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
“But he’s young and he hasn’t been there. We’re super tight, we’ve always had a great relationship. We laugh and joke all the time. He’s like one of my good buddies on tour. I know how much that hurts. I know how much he wanted it today, it’s something that you dream about. I just told him, ‘Bro, I know, but you are going to be here so many more times and I am going to be in a rocking chair when you do.’”
The 28-year-old Tiafoe has become a fan favorite in Queens, advancing to the semifinals for the third time.
Despite Michelsen, a 22-year-old California native, also sharing the stars and stripes, the crowd was decidedly on Tiafoe’s side Tuesday afternoon.
Michelsen had run through the first four rounds of the Grand Slam without losing a set, while taking out No. 16 Brandon Nakashima and 27th-seeded Tomas Etcheverry.
He seemed poised to make Tiafoe his latest straight-set victim up 5-3 in the third and serving for the match — when the moment got a little too big.
Michelsen double-faulted twice and threw in another unforced error as Tiafoe got the break and then reeled off seven straight games to close out the third set and take a commanding lead in the fourth.
The fifth set turned into a back-and-forth battle — Michelsen winning the first three games, Tiafoe the next three — that barrelled toward a tiebreak that Tiafoe won 10-6.
“I don’t think anyone else could have made me cry in that moment, to be honest,” Michelsen said. “Frances, he’s such a good guy, and he said a lot of personal things and just kind of got to me.”
Now, Tiafoe will take on Ben Shelton, who won his own five-set thriller over Carlos Alcaraz to set up an all-American semifinal Friday.
