New York, Sep 9 (IANS) After Frances Tiafoe completed an epic comeback from two sets down to secure a thrilling 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Alex Michelsen in the 2026 US Open quarter-finals, the No. 11 seed cut short his celebration to console the 22-year-old Michelsen.
Michelsen served for the match at 5-4 in the third set and also led 3-0 in the fifth, coming agonisingly close to victory in his first Grand Slam quarter-final. He won the first 14 sets of his 2026 US Open campaign before Tiafoe turned the tables.
After the win, Tiafoe jogged to the net to embrace Michelsen, who was competing in his first major quarter-final. The Americans shared a long embrace at the net, with an emotional Michelsen crying into his good friend’s shoulder at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“As soon as I hugged him, I seen he was crying already,” Tiafoe said after the match. “I was like, man, I know, I’ve been there. I’ve been there twice, to be fair, lost in five. Obviously I wasn’t serving for the match to make the semis, but he’s young, and he hasn’t been there.”
“We’re super tight. We’ve always had a great relationship. We laugh and joke all the time. He’s one of my good buddies on tour,” Tiafoe said of Michelsen. “I know how much that hurts. I know how much he wanted it today. It’s something that you dream about. I just told him, ‘Bro, I know you’re going to be here so many more times, and I’m going to be in a rocking chair when you do.’ “
Michelsen later shared his own account of the moment, saying, “I wasn’t saying much. I was trying to keep it together, and I didn’t do a good job of that. He was saying a lot of nice personal things,” he explained. “He’s a great guy for consoling me in that moment.”
Having reached the US Open semi-finals in 2022 and 2024, Tiafoe has now reached 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 played Alcaraz once at the hard-court major and Shelton twice.
–IANS
bc/vi
