Frances Tiafoe left with bitter pill to swallow after seventh straight loss to Taylor Fritz

NEW YORK—The great race to become the first American in 18 years to play a US Open final entered the home stretch on this cool Friday evening in Arthur Ashe Stadium with Frances Tiafoe ahead of Taylor Fritz by the equivalent of a single car length.

But after three-and-a-half sets, Tiafoe’s engine slowed, coughed, shuddered - and ran out of gas. Thus Fritz earned his place in Sunday’s historic final, where he will meet No 1 ranked Jannik Sinner, with a come from behind win over his close rival - and even closer friend - in three hours and 18-minutes and over five sets 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Really, really tough to swallow. This one's gonna hurt really, really bad. —Frances Tiafoe

This was a painful blow for Tiafoe, who fell behind 0-3 right off the bat but then put the pedal to the metal and reeled off five consecutive games while the night shift spectators slowly filled the enormous arena to its capacity of 23,771. By the time they were all seated, Tiafoe was a set up and - surprisingly - exchanging blazing serves with Fritz, finding ways to jerk him all over the court with that unorthodox forehand and those trademark short-backswing, flat-trajectory two-handed backhands.

“He was overwhelming me from the baseline so much, he was taking the ball and changing lines so well,” Fritz said on court immediately after the match. “I just told myself to stay in it and just fight, hold my serve and apply that scoreboard pressure as much as I could. I told myself if I didn’t give it everything I had and stick with it to see if his level might drop a little bit I would regret it for a long time.”

Instead, Tiafoe is the one with the bitter pill to swallow. He said in his post-match interview, “It's tough. It's really, really tough. Really, really tough to swallow. This one's gonna hurt really, really bad. I mean, I thought I was the better player for sure tonight. In the fourth, I don't know. . . I just felt like my body just kind of shut down on me.”

Over the past few years, the 26-year old right-hander has developed a celebrated, symbiotic relationship with the New York audience. The hard court on Ashe, which plays relatively fast, suits his game. But the love affair between Tiafoe and the Big Apple is based on more profound and delicate connections. New Yorkers love nothing more than the kind of inspirational, up-from-nothing backstory Tiafoe has lived. The energy between them leaps and buzzes like arcing electricity, the city’s multi-cultural, gritty and authentic character are reflected in Tiafoe, even though he’s from Maryland.

Tiafoe plays his best, most inspired tennis at Flushing Meadow. It’s gotten to the point where he is putting all of his eggs in the New York basket. And therein lies the rub.

After Grigor Dimitrov retired due to injury from his quarterfinal with Tiafoe, the winner said that getting excited to play in Madrid, or pretty much anywhere apart from Wimbledon, Washington D.C,, and the US Open, is “not happening.” He elaborated, conceding that “It’s almost a joke that Frances wakes up in August.”

It’s a joke that Tiafoe may no longer find amusing in light of the way melted away after Fritz won a 31-shot exchange at 3-all in the fourth set. By the time Fritz won that one and logged two service breaks in the fifth, ESPN’s John McEnroe said of Tiafoe, “He’s hit some kind of a wall. This is not the same guy who was out there in the first two hours. Something is horribly wrong.”

That something may have been an all-around lack of stamina. Tiafoe has acknowledged that he had a lot of trouble finding his zeal for competition after losing here in last year’s quarterfinal to rising star and compatriot, Ben Shelton. Going into the North American hard court season, Tiafoe had a losing record 15-16. He felt that treading water for so long hurt him. “It [this loss] could be a testament to how many (best-of-five) matches I've played in a short time,” he said. “And I haven't played that many matches all year like that.”

Tiafoe will take important lessons from this. The way he ran out of gas is also a reminder of how very different best-of-five tennis is, and why Grand Slam tennis is so glorious. The commitment isn’t for two weeks, it’s for a year, a career.

“You know, for a really, really long time obviously this is gonna hurt and stuff. I'm going to let this sting, but I'm gonna learn from this. I'm gonna turn the page, I'm going to try to end the year strong. I'm going to go to Asia, do the whole thing, do it the right way and not half-ass it. I'm going to be in these positions again, for sure. Just hoping for a different outcome.”

Tiafoe may love New York and New York loves him back. But it sure is tough love.