US Open 2024 Day Nine Quarter Final Recap

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe will play in one of Friday’s semi-finals after the American pair advanced from Tuesday’s quarter-finals.

Whatever happens, one of them will be the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.

Fritz was the first to progress, playing a solid match against Sascha Zverev to defeat the 4th seed in four sets before Frances Tiafoe went through after Dimitrov retired in the fourth set.

Given the stakes and the wide openness of the draw in this half, all four guys will have been aware of the massive opportunity to make a slam final, so the quality of both matches wasn’t great.

Fritz vs Sascha featured two guys destroying the ball, both from way behind the baseline. Aside from a couple of lengthy rallies that finished with something special, little creativity was offered.

On the other hand, Tiafoe vs. Dimitrov contained some fun shot-making and lots of feel, but overall, it was filled with errors and not the highest quality.

Highlights and stats from both matches are below 👇

Day Nine US Open 2024 Quarter Final Results

Winner	Loser	Scoreline
Taylor Fritz (12)	Alexander Zverev (4)	7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3)
Frances Tiafoe (20)	Grigor Dimitrov (9)	6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 4-1 RET

Fritz Makes Maiden Grand Slam Semi-Final

Taylor Fritz is into his first Grand Slam semi-final after overcoming Alexander Zverev 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in three hours and 26 minutes.

Fritz hadn’t won any of the four major quarter-finals he’d played in, but he was the more consistent and aggressive player on Tuesday.

The American won their last encounter at Wimbledon in five sets, and this match played out similarly. It was a baseline battle with both guys going toe to toe, but Zverev broke down more often and missed some big forehands on the important points.

Overall, there was little to separate them, and I thought Zverev had the more impressive shots, but Fritz was steadier and more composed during the bigger moments.

Zverev was brilliant on his backhand wing but more tentative on the forehand, and I thought he played too passively.

Yes, he was hitting the ball hard, but he was stuck 6 feet behind the baseline and never really got on the front foot to dictate play.

Stats-wise, you can barely separate them, so it comes down to Fritz feeling good on the day and looking more motivated to get the job done.

I feel amazing. I’ve had a lot of looks at quarter-finals in the past couple of years, and today just felt different. I really feel that it was my time to take a step further and it’s only fitting I’m doing it here on this court at the [US] Open in front of this crowd. You know how helpful having a big serve is. But you get to a point where, at the top of the game, your serve comes back a little more. Especially against those guys, who are typically pretty good from the ground. I’ve worked on adding so much to my game. I feel like my forehand and backhand have kind of always been there, but I’m trying to come to the net a little bit, trying to mix in some drop shots, just trying to add stuff to my game so I can back up my serve in better. Fritz on his win.

Match Stats

	Taylor Fritz	Alexander Zverev
Aces	12	14
Double Faults	5	4
1st Serve Percentage	63%	71%
1st Serve Points Won	81% (66/81)	75% (77/103)
2nd Serve Points Won	53% (25/47)	48% (20/42)
Break Points Saved	50% (2/4)	85% (11/13)
1st Return Points Won	25% (26/103)	19% (15/81)
2nd Return Points Won	52% (22/42)	47% (22/47)
Break Points Converted	15% (2/13)	50% (2/4)
Winners	45	52
Unforced Errors	48	42
Net Points Won	67% (16/24)	78% (29/37)
Max Points In Row	7	5
Service Points Won	71% (91/128)	67% (97/145)
Return Points Won	33% (48/145)	29% (37/128)
Total Points Won	51% (139/273)	49% (134/273)
Max Games In Row	3	3
Service Games Won	90% (19/21)	91% (20/22)
Return Games Won	9% (2/22)	10% (2/21)
Total Games Won	49% (21/43)	51% (22/43)

Highlights

Tiafoe Tops Injured Dimitrov

After Dimitrov’s five-set win over Andrey Rublev, I had significant concerns about his ability to recover for the quarter-final as he intimated in the press that his hardcourt summer had been plagued by a couple of injuries that he’d struggled to shake off.

That observation proved correct. During the latter stages of the third set, Dimitrov’s movement and baseline power noticeably diminished, likely due to a leg issue.

He called for the physio and received treatment off-court after the third set. However, despite continuing for a few games, he retired three hours and four minutes into the match, giving Tiafoe a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 victory. (on a side note, why not just play out those two games to conclude the match, try to hit a winner on every return and roll in some serves, job done)

Before the injury, I don’t think either guy played that well. The blueprint to beat Tiafoe is to extend the rallies, but Dimitrov didn’t have that in his locker last night, so he played aggressively. That worked in parts, like when he snatched the second set by recovering a break of serve, but 11 double faults and 51 unforced errors are too high.

Obviously, it’s not the way I want to get through. But obviously happy to get through. Another semi-final here. Incredible Tiafoe on his win.

Match Stats

	Grigor Dimitrov	Frances Tiafoe
Aces	8	3
Double Faults	11	5
1st Serve Percentage	55%	50%
1st Serve Points Won	75% (53/71)	74% (39/53)
2nd Serve Points Won	37% (22/59)	67% (36/54)
Break Points Saved	57% (8/14)	75% (3/4)
1st Return Points Won	26% (14/53)	25% (18/71)
2nd Return Points Won	33% (18/54)	63% (37/59)
Break Points Converted	25% (1/4)	43% (6/14)
Winners	38	26
Unforced Errors	51	37
Net Points Won	52% (12/23)	55% (17/31)
Max Points In Row	6	8
Service Points Won	58% (75/130)	70% (75/107)
Return Points Won	30% (32/107)	42% (55/130)
Total Points Won	45% (107/237)	55% (130/237)
Max Games In Row	3	5
Service Games Won	67% (12/18)	94% (16/17)
Return Games Won	6% (1/17)	33% (6/18)
Total Games Won	37% (13/35)	63% (22/35)