NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 29: Taylor Fritz of the United States celebrates after defeating Jerome Kym of Switzerland during their Men’s Singles Third Round match on Day Six of the 2025 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 29, 2025 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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Taylor Fritz has become the most reliable and successful American man at the Grand Slams.
While fellow top Americans Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul all exited the Open early, No. 4 Fritz advanced to his seventh career major quarterfinal and third straight at Flushing Meadows with his 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory Sunday over Tomáš Macháč. He joined Tiafoe (2022-24) as the only American men in the past 15 years to reach three straight US Open quarterfinals.
“It’s been a tough week for the guys; I guess I wasn’t expecting everything that happened. I felt really, really good about our chances this week,” Fritz said of the American men exiting before the round of 16. “But I’m happy to be here; I’m happy to be the last one standing at least.”
Fritz, last year’s runner-up to Jannik Sinner, has now won 25 of his past 30 matches dating to the French Open, but things figure to get much tougher now.
On Tuesday (likely under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium), he will face 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, the GOAT of men’s tennis. Djokovic methodically eliminated Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the quarters of all four Slams in a calendar year for a record ninth time.
Djokovic is 10-0 against the American.
Djokovic is bidding for a record 25th major and expects Fritz – who banged out 14 aces and won 91% of his first-serve points on Sunday – to play a more aggressive style to mix things up.
“I expect players that never won against me to come out on the court and try something different and try to make me feel maybe uncomfortable and play more aggressive or not, whatever,” Djokovic said.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any major changes with Taylor, because, obviously you stick to the kind of a game plan that got you to the quarters, and you know what your strengths are. You stick to those weapons…in your game, which for him obviously is serve and forehand, two big weapons in his game.”
The Serb added: “I think over the years he has improved with his movement a lot. Backhand is also very solid, very flat. For a big guy, he moves really well. I think it’s quite underestimated how well he’s moving, and particularly last couple years, which was something that was probably missing in his game from before.
“That’s what got him to finals and several semifinals of Grand Slam. He’s knocking on that door. So obviously final stages of the tournament, quarters, we played in quarters before here some years ago. It was a day match, I remember, but now it’s going to be night match. Obviously different conditions.”
An American man still hasn’t won a major in 22 years, since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. Fritz knocked on the door a year ago, becoming the first American man in a Slam final since Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.
“Hopefully, since I’m the last [American man], the crowd will really get behind me and will me through it,” Fritz said.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2025/09/01/taylor-fritz-is-last-american-man-at-us-open-but-now-he-faces-the-goat/
