Tiafoe makes epic comeback from two sets down to enter US Open QFs
New York: Frances Tiafoe earned one of the most memorable wins of his career at the US Open, where he rallied from two sets to love down and erased a 0-3 deficit in the fifth set to outlast countryman Alex Michelsen in a thrilling quarter-final clash.
From two sets down and a game away from defeat in the third, the No. 11 seed stormed all the way back to claim the thriller 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(6) win over fellow American Alex Michelsen in the first men’s quarterfinal match that lasted four hours and 38 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday.
Tiafoe is now 3-17 in Grand Slam matches when going down two sets, with two of the wins coming this year. He also came back at Roland Garros from two sets down in the third round to defeat Jaime Faria.
Having previously reached the US Open semi-finals in 2022 and 2024, Tiafoe has now advanced to the stage at Flushing Meadows for a third time, becoming the first American man to do so this century since Andre Agassi (2002-03, 2005).
The 28-year-old will next face defending champion and World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz or countryman Ben Shelton, having previously played Alcaraz once at the hard-court major and Shelton twice.
Serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, Michelsen blinked for the first time in the whole match as Tiafoe broke at 15, part of a stretch where Tiafoe won 17 of the final 22 points of the set to start the comeback.
Michelsen also took control in the fifth set, winning the first three games of the set before Tiafoe once again roared back by breaking in the fifth game to get the match back on serve. That remained the case until the match tiebreak, when Tiafoe was the sharper of the two and never trailed after he got the minibreak at 3-2.
After match point, Tiafoe cut his celebration short and ran to an emotional Michelsen, as the two shared a long embrace with Michelsen sobbing on Tiafoe’s shoulder.