With the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders, American Frances Tiafoe rose to the occasion by reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 win over Russian Andrey Rublev at the U.S. Open on Wednesday.
Women's No. 1 Iga Swiatek also reached her first U.S. Open semifinal with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over American Jessica Pegula. The French Open champion will face Aryna Sabalenka for a place in Saturday's final after reaching the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the third time in 2022.
The last American man to win the title at Flushing Meadows was Andy Roddick in 2003, and the pressure was on 24-year-old Tiafoe to build on his stunning win over No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.