With the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders, American Frances Tiafoe rose to the occasion on Wednesday by reaching his first grand slam semi-final with 7-6(3), 7-6(0), 6-4 win over Russian Andrey Rublev at the US Open.

Not since Andy Roddick in 2003 has a US man won the title at Flushing Meadows and the pressure was on the 24-yearold to build on his stunning win over second seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. He did not disappoint, launching 18 aces and 46 winners in a dominant performance.

“This is wild, this is crazy,” Tiafoe said. “We’ve got two more to go.” Rublev put up a fight for two sets but his game unravelled as Tiafoe stormed through the second set tie-break, shouting out in anger and whacking his racket after an ace from the American flew past him.

The Russian bit down on a tennis ball and sat with his face buried in a towel after Tiafoe triumphed in a 16-shot rally to get the only break of the match in the seventh game of the third set. Wearing a bracelet that read: “Why not me?” Tiafoe sealed it with an ace to become the first Black American man to reach a US Open semi-final since Arthur Ashe 50 years ago.

Iga stays No.1

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek overcame a shaky serving performance to beat American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6(4) and reach the semi-finals of the US Open for the first time. The top-seed dropped her racket and pumped her fist after the win, which guaranteed that she will remain the world’s top player when the tournament ends.

Swiatek will meet Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. She holds a 3-1 record against the powerful Belarusian. The in-form Sabalenka swatted aside Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 7-6(4) to reach her second straight US Open semi-final.

Final four earned it: Swiatek

A first-time US Open women’s champion will be crowned on Saturday and world No.1 Iga Swiatek said all four semi-finalists deserve to be there. Top seed Swiatek will meet Belarusian powerhouse Aryna Sabalenka, while inform Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia battles tough Tunisian Ons Jabeur with trips to the final on the line. “It feels like we all earned it,” Swiatek said after her straight-sets quarter-final win over American Jessica Pegula.

“Sometimes the semi-finals players are all a surprise. Right now we’re pretty solid” “I’ll do my best to make her work as much as I can,” Sabalenka said of Swiatek. Jabeur got the better of Garcia several times during their junior days, something the Frenchwoman wants to put right.