“He was crying already” – Tiafoe comes from two sets and a break down, then stops celebrating to hold Michelsen up at the net
Frances Tiafoe was four points from elimination when Alex Michelsen served for the match, and finished the night holding his 22-year-old compatriot up at the net while he cried. The 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) comeback takes Tiafoe into a third US Open semifinal and back into the top 10, and ends the fortnight of the only man in the draw who had not lost a set.
Tiafoe – Michelsen, US Open 2026 | | © Ella Ling/Shutterstock/SIPA
This was one of the scenes of the 2026 tennis season, and an image that will last in US Open history. Frances Tiafoe was two sets and a break down, four points from the end of his tournament, and when it was over he cut his own celebration short and went to the net to hold up the man he had just beaten. The American No. 11 seed came through 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) against compatriot Alex Michelsen on Tuesday evening in New York to reach a third US Open semifinal, and Michelsen cried on his shoulder while he did it.
Tiafoe plays the winner of the quarterfinal between American No. 8 seed Ben Shelton and Spanish No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Michelsen had served for the match at 5-4 in the third. He opened the game with two double faults, landed no first serves in it, and was broken. “You’re four points away from making a semifinal of the US Open, and it’s a horrible way to look at it obviously, because you can only play one point at a time,” the 22-year-old said afterwards. “Honestly, sometimes my arm, I’m like, oh, it’s so tight, but I wasn’t that tight. I just kind of missed a couple of serves, and after I double faulted twice, I was, like, oh, here we go. It’s not good. I feel like I just handed it to him.”
The embrace at the end lasted longer than either of them expected. “As soon as I hugged him I saw he was crying already,” Tiafoe said. “I was like, ‘man, I know. I know how much that hurts, but you’re gonna be here so many more times, man’.”
He had gone up there without thinking about it. “We’re just good friends. Maybe if it was, like, a foreign or European dude, I probably would have had a bigger immediate reaction. I really like Alex. I really, really do. And I just wanted to come up there and just dap him up. I didn’t think it was going to be as long as it was, but I understand the moment. He was definitely crying on my shoulders.”
Michelsen’s version came from inside it. “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. Y’ou’ll be there. When I’m older, you’re going to be here, and we’re going to play again in this type of circumstance’. He’s a great guy for consoling me in that moment.”
Tiafoe waits until the last minute and finds his level
Tiafoe was unsparing about the two and a half hours that preceded the turn. “Slow, it was flat. I’m a tough critic of myself. It wasn’t good, let’s put it that way. Three out of five is a blessing, because you have time to get it together. I definitely waited for the last minute.”
What changed was access to the court rather than intent. “I was able to finally get momentum, see some balls on the court, get in some rallies, find myself at the net, into some good shots to get the crowd going. You see a little opening window, you see turning points. One point can, all of a sudden you’re, four hours later, in a battle just because of one point.”
It is the third Grand Slam semifinal of his career and all three have come here, after 2022 and 2024, making him the tenth American man in the Open era to reach three or more US Open semifinals and the second this century after Andre Agassi.
It takes him to No. 8 in the rankings and back inside the top 10 for the first time since September 2023, and it denies Arthur Fils a top 10 debut after this tournament. Tiafoe had arrived past compatriot Martin Damm 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-5, Monégasque No. 22 seed Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and Russian No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (6).
Michelsen loses a set for the first time, and then three
Michelsen came into the day as the only man left in the men’s draw who had not dropped a set, 12-0 after beating Italian qualifier Federico Cina 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, No. 16 seed Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, Spain’s Daniel Merida 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3 and Argentinian No. 27 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4. Ranked No. 46 and in a first Grand Slam quarterfinal, he has never won one above ATP 250 level.
His own account divides the match at the same point Tiafoe does. “The first three sets I was on top of him. He wasn’t playing like Frances. Then I kind of let him back in at 5-4. After that, he was playing like Frances does on Ashe. In the fourth set I wasn’t fully there mentally, but fifth set I’m super proud of myself the way I handled myself. I was playing every single point full. I did everything right in the fifth. Just didn’t go my way.”
US Open 2026, men’s singles quarter finals
A. Zverev [1] vs B. Van de Zandschulp – not played
K. Khachanov vs A. Blockx [28] – not played
F. Tiafoe [11] d. A. Michelsen: 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(6)
B. Shelton [8] vs C. Alcaraz [2] – not played
