As Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe tussled for five sets on Friday night in a historic all-American semi-final duel to decide who would clinch the greatest opportunity of their career, Andy Roddick, a towering figure in US tennis, watched on from one of the hospitality boxes dotted around Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It has now been 21 years since Roddick won the US Open on the same court, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. His victory at the time seemed like a perfect torch-passing moment to a new era of US players as the careers of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, who had won the US Open and Australian Open respectively in the previous year, approached the end.
