MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
For the first time in 15 years, an American man will play in a major tennis final. That is because two American men have advanced to the same semifinal match of the U.S. Open, meaning no matter which of them wins, an American will advance - a sign, perhaps, that the men are carrying their weight. NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan is here. Hi, Becky.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Really? It's the first time in 15 years...
SULLIVAN: Yeah.
KELLY: ...An American guy is going to play a major tennis final?
SULLIVAN: Yeah, yeah. The last one was Andy Roddick at Wimbledon way back in 2009, and he lost that match. So if we're talking about winning one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, an American man hasn't done that in more than 20 years. Roddick was the last one to do so. He won the U.S. Open back in 2003. So, I mean, that was like a different world.
Since then, men's tennis has been dominated by European superstars. Like, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic have dominated since then. And Djokovic is still very much in it. He just won the gold medal at the Olympics this summer. And so that was, you know, a big change for things with Americans and tennis. They used to really own the sport or at least regularly contend for Grand Slam titles. So this 21-year title drought - by far the longest in the history of the sport for American men - now these two are hoping to change it.
KELLY: And tell us who these two are who are hoping to try to end that drought.
SULLIVAN: Yeah. Yeah, so these guys are Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz. Their stories begin, you know, a decade or more ago, when U.S. tennis really decided we need to start investing in the next generation of players. Both of these guys have been a part of that effort, so they've known each other since they were kids. Fritz is the son of two professional tennis players. He's probably the better player, I would say, of the two these days. He's won the past few matchups between them. I think he'll be the favorite to win the semifinal tomorrow.
On the other hand, Tiafoe is the fan favorite. He's a bigger draw for the crowd. He's got truly an amazing personal story, Mary Louise. He's the son of two immigrants from Sierra Leone who came to the U.S. in the '90s to escape civil war. Tiafoe's dad worked as a construction worker who helped to build a major youth tennis prep center in suburban Washington, D.C. - dad eventually became a custodian there while his mom worked night shifts as a nurse.
And so the kids, including Frances, literally slept at the tennis center at times, was able to train there for free, where he was noticed by a big-time coach. And the rest of his career - it's history. So now he's back in the semifinals at the U.S. Open. He did reach this same stage back in 2022 but lost to the Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz. So for both of these guys - for Fritz and Tiafoe - a win tomorrow would be the best result so far of their careers.
KELLY: OK, but to get that win, they will have to beat whoever's on the other side of the net.
SULLIVAN: Yeah.
KELLY: And that will be?
SULLIVAN: Absolutely. Yeah, it's no joke. So one of the players in the other semifinal that takes place tonight is the No. 1 player in the world. That's the Italian Jannik Sinner right now, who was actually just in the news for having tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs earlier this year. He was cleared by tennis anti-doping officials for that, cleared to play, after making the case that his physical therapist had used a steroid cream on himself to treat a cut and then didn't wash his hands before treating Sinner afterward. So he's cleared. He's playing tonight. He'll face Daniil Medvedev, who won the U.S. Open back in 2021. Just, really, it's an incredibly competitive men's field this year. The final will take place Sunday.
KELLY: And meanwhile, Becky, the American women, are we still showing them how it's done?
SULLIVAN: Yes, absolutely. So there are also two women who have reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. They're playing in different semifinals, so it's not a guarantee that one of them will reach the final. But those two are Emma Navarro, who qualified yesterday. She will, in the semifinal, meet Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, who was last year's runner-up. And then on the other side, in the other semi, is Jessica Pegula, who won a very tough draw tonight against the top-ranked woman in the world, the Polish star Iga Swiatek. So she is now set to face Karolina Muchova tomorrow as well. Pegula has a real shot at winning that one.
But of course, the American women haven't been quite so overshadowed on the international stage the same way that the men have. You had Serena and Venus Williams who, of course, were winning for all these years, helped ensure that. And then Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open just last year.
KELLY: NPR's Becky Sullivan, thanks.
SULLIVAN: You're so welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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