New York (Reuters)
American Frances Tiafoe reached the semi-finals of the US Open for the second time in three years on Tuesday night after Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov retired from the match with an injury while trailing 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 4-1.
Tiafoe next faces 12th seed Taylor Fritz in an all-American clash.
Ninth seed Dimitrov, who was forced to retire with an injury during his fourth-round match against Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon this year, left the court after the third set to receive treatment and played several games in pain as his team urged him to retire.
Tiafoe celebrated quietly, hugging his opponent at the net as the crowd began to file out of Arthur Ashe Stadium. “It was a high-level match, and obviously I didn’t want it to end like that,” Tiafoe said. Tiafoe was in superb form, breaking his opponent with a backhand winner in the fifth game and earning another break on the fourth set point when Dimitrov netted a forehand.
It looked like Tiafoe would win easily when he led 4-1 in the second set, but Dimitrov broke in the seventh game, as the American’s unforced errors piled up.
Dimitrov won four straight points to go up 6-3 in the tiebreak, but nearly let things slip away after committing two double faults, before Tiafoe gifted him the set with a double fault.
After falling behind by a break in the third set, Dimitrov’s form took a strange turn and he double-faulted to hand Tiafoe the set and a 2-1 lead.
Dimitrov limped off the court to receive treatment before the fourth set, shaking his head and unable to move the way he wanted in the first game of the final set.
#Happened #Flushing #Meadows. #Win #withdrawal
