Frances Tiafoe once blames notorious Carlos Alcaraz issue for US Open elimination

Frances Tiafoe had a pretty good idea of ​​what caused his five-set defeat to Taylor Fritz at the US Open. The world No. 20 felt it was exactly the same thing that plagued Carlos Alcaraz in his 2023 French Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

In case you forgot, the Spaniard and the Serb were in the middle of a major battle at Roland Garros and were level at one set apiece when the 21-year-old virtually froze on the court and struggled to even move due to cramps all over his body. While the now four-time Grand Slam champion was able to resume the match, the 37-year-old Serb had no trouble securing a 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 victory.

Afterwards, world number three Alcaraz said the intense stress and anxiety made him feel something he had ‘never felt before’.

“(It) was really hard for me today. I have never felt anything like today. I have never felt the tension that I felt in that match. Of course, when you play a semi-final of a grand slam, you have a lot of nerves, but even more when you play against Novak. That’s the truth. The next time I play against Novak, I hope to be different, but the nerves will be there,” the Spanish tennis player said after that match.

On Thursday night in New York, world number 20 Tiafoe was hoping to reach his first Major final and was on course to do so after leading compatriot Fritz by two sets to one. But then the world number 12 won the next two sets to secure a 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-1 victory.

In his press conference, the 20th-seeded American was asked if fatigue caused his level to drop in the last two sets. The 26-year-old then stressed that he had been feeling physically fine throughout the tournament, but had been suffering from cramps that were most likely caused by stress.

“It’s tough. It’s really, really tough. This one’s going to hurt really bad. I mean, I thought I was definitely the better player tonight. But in the fourth, I had some cramps. I felt like my body was just giving out. It probably had a lot to do with nerves. I just went down, like Alcaraz and Novak did that year, the French. It’s kind of the same. I couldn’t really move,” Tiafoe explained.

Tiafoe definitely felt this should have been his moment

For the three-time ATP champion, it was his second Major semi-final and also his second at Flushing Meadows. He previously reached his first Slam semi-final at the 2022 US Open before being defeated 6-7 (6) 6-3 6-1 6-7 (5) 6-3 by Alcaraz.

Looking back on his two round of 16 defeats in New York, the former world number 10 noted that he was “fighting for survival” against the Spaniard, but that this time he felt he was in control of the match and had everything in his own hands.

“The closest I came was obviously against Alcaraz, I was kind of hanging on for dear life to go five (sets). Here I was really in a position to win. I felt unbelievable physically, but it would also be a testament to how many matches I’ve played in a short period of time and I haven’t played that many matches all year. But ultimately the nerves got the better of me tonight,” Tiafoe said.

Tiafoe wasn’t the only one feeling nervous there

Unlike Tiafoe, Fritz was playing in his first Slam semifinal. Of course, there are always nerves when you play there for the first time and the world number 12 admitted that he felt it the whole match. But the difference is that in that mental battle he was able to beat the number 20.

“It was a crazy match. It was all about handling the moment and the pressure. He played at such a high level in the third and fourth sets. It was all about staying in it, resisting the pressure and hoping that at some point the mistakes would come. Eventually it came to that,” Fritz emphasized.

Meanwhile, this was a big summer for Tiafoe, although he failed to win his first Masters and Grand Slam trophies. Before coming to the US Open, he finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner in the Cincinnati Masters final.

While the American is likely to return to No. 16 in the world rankings on Monday, it will be interesting to see if he can bounce back over the rest of the year after one of the most disappointing defeats of his career.