US Open Second Service: Frances Tiafoe ends 50-year hiatus as Kyrgios leaves New York with over $30,000 in fines
Looking back on the big news in our exclusive ‘Second Service’… Frances Tiafoe is the first African-American man to make it to the semi-finals in New York since 1972 ending a 50-year-long hiatus as Nick Kyrgios left New York with over $30,000 in fines plus more…
To start, Frances Tiafoe has become the first American man into the semi-finals of the US Open since Andy Roddick back in 2006 after downing Andrey Rublev in straight sets in front of an electric Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
Moreover, the 24-year-old is the first African-American man to make it to the semi-finals in New York since none other than Ashe himself, who last reached that stage at the 1972 event before losing in the final to Ilie Nastase.
The achievement came on the court named after Arthur Ashe.
In other news, Nick Kyrgios racked up another fine in his last US Open match as he was docked US$14,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct for his actions after losing to Karen Khachanov.
The Wimbledon finalist smashed two of his rackets in frustration after his five-set defeat to the world number 31, bringing his US Open fine total to US$32,500 for five offences including spitting, swearing and racket smashing.
That makes Kyrgios the most fined player at this year’s tournament, though that pales in comparison to the US$473,200 he accumulated across singles and doubles by reaching the quarter-finals and last 16 respectively in those events.
Furthermore, Carlos Alcaraz is into the semi-final of a Major for the first time in his career after defeating Next Gen rival Jannik Sinner in the second-longest match in US Open history.
Entering their fourth tour-level meeting, Sinner led the Spaniard 2-1 in their head-to-head, including victory in their only Slam match in the fourth round of Wimbledon in July.
But Alcaraz rose above the Italian, saving a match point along the way, to win 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-7 (0-7), 7-5, 6-3 after five hours and 14 minutes of tennis of the highest quality.
Read about the amazing match here.
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