By ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Frances Tiafoe returned to the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the third straight year, beating Alexei Popyrin, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, on Sunday night, Sept. 1.
The No. 20 seed will attempt to match the best Grand Slam result of his career when he faces No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday for a berth in the semifinals.
Tiafoe lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in that round in 2022, and was eliminated last year in the quarterfinals by Ben Shelton.
Tiafoe is the first American man to reach three consecutive U.S. Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick from 2006-08.
He turned the match late in the second set, when Popyrin was serving with a 5-3 lead and was a point away from evening it at one set apiece. Tiafoe won the next five points to break, and quickly took control of the tiebreaker by jumping to a 4-1 lead.
Popyrin, the No. 28 seed from Australia, upset defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
