NEW YORK — Frances Tiafoe has now lost three US Open semifinals and won none. The eleventh seed lost to Ben Shelton 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 on Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium after taking the opening set, and his three career Grand Slam semifinal losses have all come at this tournament, in 2022, 2024, and 2026.
Tiafoe walked into the interview room laughing.
Serve percentage is the number Tiafoe says has lagged for him even through a season of winning matches, and he was working far harder on his own service games than Shelton was on his.
“For me, it’s still something that’s lagging for me, in my serve percentage-wise. I was working way too hard on my serve and he was serving 82%,” Tiafoe said. “It’s kind of hard, especially lefties moving around, spins, kicks, sliders, big ones. Obviously he can get it up there when he’s really juicing out. And for me, I’m grinding service games and then he was trying to break. I think that was the biggest thing.”
“Then he also started returning better. That was something that put me behind the eight ball a lot tonight,” Tiafoe continued.
Shelton finished with 20 aces and three double faults and landed 75% of his first serves. Tiafoe landed 57% and hit three aces. Tiafoe won 9 of his 13 second-serve points in the first set and 38% of his second-serve points across the four sets.
Frances Tiafoe On A Season He Has Not Finished
Tiafoe reached the semifinals here after a five-set comeback against Alex Michelsen, winning 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6) in 4 hours, 39 minutes, according to the ATP Tour. It was the third time in his career he has come back from two sets down. He also finished runner-up in Cincinnati this summer, and he is the first American since Andre Agassi to reach three US Open semifinals.
Tiafoe is 28. He is 10-0 in his career at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“You never want to be too confident you can get back to it, but I feel pretty confident I can get back to it for sure. But I’m just happy with how I’ve been doing and how I’ve been showing up every week,” Tiafoe explained. “Obviously I had a little blip. I have a little wrist thing. Outside of that, I’ve been showing up every week, which is something I really wanted to do and something I was happy about doing.”
“I was doing my interview here last year, and it was really, really bad, how I felt about where I was at. And so it’s hard, man. I’m upset, but at the same time super proud of myself for where I’ve been,” Tiafoe said. “I want to be a Grand Slam champion one day and just keep working. I’m good now. I’m okay. I got kinks, but I’m okay.”
Frances Tiafoe On Turin And The Crowd In New York
Tiafoe held the eighth and final qualifying position in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin during the tournament, sitting on 2,630 points ahead of Rafael Jódar’s 2,509. He has never qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. He said he wrote it on his vision board.
“I just kind of continue what I’ve been doing all year, just continue to work. I fell in love with the work, so it’s not something where I’m going to probably feel sorry for myself in the next couple of days, but I have to start working again and get my ass to Turin,” Tiafoe said. “I want to be there. I want to play. That’s a testament to the year, that you played really well from top to bottom, and that’s something I really want to do.”
The crowd is the reason Tiafoe says he wants to win this tournament specifically, and he named the hotel staff and the security guards before he named anyone else.
“The love is incredible, man. It’s something that gives me definitely tears in my eyes, from a kid who started how I did. And the love I have here is crazy. Every match I play, from everyone, all the staff, security guards, everyone really wants to see me do the thing,” Tiafoe explained. “Friends, family, and team, it’s like there’s a lot of great energy. The hotel I’m at, they’re geeked out to see me every year. I feel really good being here in New York, and it’s hence why I’ve always been on the business end of it. But hopefully one day we’ll do it.”
