NEW YORK — Frances Tiafoe put his heart on the line in his U.S. Open semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz. He never gives less. In the biggest match of his life, he gave even more — more of an incredible effort and more of himself, a luminous athlete whose performance transcended the numbers that said he had lost.
The son of a custodian at a Maryland tennis center, Tiafoe’s grandest hope was to get a tennis scholarship because his family couldn’t afford to send him to college. On Friday, as the first Black American man to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open since Arthur Ashe did so in 1972, Tiafoe fought back in an electric fourth set against one of the sport’s brightest stars even after it seemed his legs would no longer carry him and his lungs wouldn’t take in any air.
Tiafoe’s run at Flushing Meadows ended when Alcaraz, a 19-year-old phenom from Spain, outlasted him 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 on the court named for Ashe. Alcaraz, remarkably energetic and resilient after playing a 5-hour 15-minute semifinal that ended at 2:50 a.m. Thursday, will play for the title and the No. 1 world ranking Sunday. He will face Casper Ruud of Norway, who reached his first U.S. Open final with a 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 decision over Karen Khachanov of Russia.
