NEW YORK – Taylor Fritz, the late-blooming son of an American tennis star of the 1970s, will face Jannik Sinner in the final of the US Open.

Relying on his strong serve, growing arsenal of skills and stronger backbone that have allowed him to compete with the best players in the world in recent years, Fritz twice came from a set down against Frances Tiafoe, his close friend and training partner from his teenage years.

“He overwhelmed me from the baseline,” said Fritz on the court. “I just told myself I had to stick with it and fight.”

And he listened.

In the first US Open semifinal between two American men in 19 years, Fritz won 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. He is the first American to reach the US Open final since 2006, when Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer.

Fritz will be a clear underdog on Sunday against Sinner, the Italian world number one who has largely swept his opponents off the court over the past two weeks despite occasional bouts of weakness. But Fritz has imagined holding the US Open trophy in his hands for years, even though this idea seemed absurd to most people.

He doesn’t care about the other side of the net. For such a chance, he would let Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic play at the same time.

“That’s why I do what I do, the reason I work so hard,” Fritz said tearfully on the court when the game was over.

Taylor Fritz swept Frances Tiafoe off the court in the final set. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)

On this court, in this stadium, in front of this crowd of nearly 24,000, with his home Grand Slam at stake and the chance to end the American men’s 21-year drought at majors, it is hard to believe that he doesn’t like his chances.

Quiet and modest, he is so confident these days, and that is how he has played in his last 12 matches. He eliminated Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud, both of whom had reached Grand Slam finals before him, on his way to the semifinal against Tiafoe. He is an overwhelming crowd favorite who enjoys the atmosphere at Arthur Ashe Stadium, especially at night.

Two years after setting Rafael Nadal on the road to New York with a brilliant five-set battle against Alcaraz and lighting him up, Tiafoe has become a force to be reckoned with under the lights at the US Open on Ashe Island – for himself and for everyone in attendance.

Frances Tiafoe wowed the Arthur Ashe crowd for most of the match. (Associated Press)

No matter how much of a slump Tiafoe has experienced in recent months or how disappointing his play has been over the past year, he sees the bright lights of the city and the big stadiums, hears the noise and looks at the big screens to see which of his famous idols turned friends are with him.

He comes to life because “everything is different on Ashe.”

Not against Fritz.

Those were Tiafoe’s words earlier this week after he secured his place in the semifinals against the 26-year-old from Southern California, who has dominated their duel for eight years. Fritz had beaten Tiafoe six out of seven times, and now it’s seven out of eight.

For most of Friday night, it wasn’t clear why. Fritz had the stronger serve, but Tiafoe could almost keep up and seemed to have just a few more shots in his racket. That’s what the match came down to – a few points in each set. At first, Fritz played the sloppier shots at the worst possible times.

And then towards the end of the fourth set, when Tiafoe was serving for 5:5 and coming closer and closer to the end, he had one of those weak phases that have plagued him throughout his career, on the biggest stage at the worst possible time. Double faults, errors, bad decisions. If a mistake was possible, Tiafoe made it, and Fritz took full advantage of the opportunity and finished Tiafoe with the ace that took him one step away from where he always wanted to be.

A handful of points can make or break a player’s career. For opposite reasons, Tiafoe and Fritz won’t soon forget the final five points of the fourth set.

“This is a hard pill to swallow,” Tiafoe said. “This is going to hurt really, really badly.”

One point away from tying the set and putting the pressure on Fritz a few more clicks higher, Tiafoe made two double faults, allowing Fritz to get back into the game at 40-40.

Then he hit a forehand wide. Suddenly he was a point behind and Tiafoe did what players always do when they suddenly lack the will or confidence to fight through a point. He tried to get away early.

The drop shot was doomed as soon as it left the strings, landing softly at the bottom of the net.

By now Tiafoe’s body was cramping and he didn’t know why. “You shut me down,” he said.

“I probably had a lot to do with nerves. I could hardly move.”

And so, after two hours and 51 minutes, it came down to a shootout for a place in the final of their home Slam tournament between Fritz and Tiafoe, who had slept together as young teenagers in the national camps for junior players.

Fritz clenched his fist, sat down in his chair and arranged himself like a manager preparing for a big meeting.

Tiafoe took off his shirt, leaned back and looked at the sky. He couldn’t understand how he could have missed this. He gargled with pickle juice. He ate something. He drank. Anything to ease the cramps.

Fritz then put pressure on his old friend, although he hardly had to apply any pressure. He won the next seven points and the next four games. Tiafoe never held serve again.

For nearly two sets and 90 minutes, there was not much Fritz could do but hang on and hope that Tiafoe’s level would drop, as it almost always does over the course of a five-set match. Now it was dropping rapidly, despite the crowd trying to catch him on the way down.

It was hopeless. Fritz won 25 of the 34 points in the final set. Tiafoe won only four points on his serve and none of the nine he started with his second serve.

When Fritz double-faulted in the fifth game and gave back a break, he looked at his box, spread his hands, palms facing down, and raised and lowered them like lungs. Calm. Calm. Then he laughed and went back to his task of reaching the final.

Taylor Fritz held her nerve long enough for Frances Tiafoe’s incredible tennis to drop a level. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)

Nobody would have expected this from him ten years ago, when he wasn’t even good enough to train on the top courts with the best players at the USTA training camps in Florida. Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka were on those courts. Fritz was banished elsewhere.

When he returned to California, he told his mother Kathy May, who had twice reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, how embarrassed he had been. The other boys were much better.

He used it as motivation then and has been playing to prove something ever since. His biggest chance will come on Sunday when few will give him a real chance against Sinner at the end of one of the biggest weekends in American tennis in decades.

On Saturday, Jessica Pegula, the daughter of Kim and Terry, co-owners of the Buffalo Bills (and Terry, owner of the Buffalo Sabres), will face Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s final. Like Fritz, whose mother is an heiress to the Macy’s retail fortune, Pegula comes from one of the wealthiest families in the country. They had many advantages growing up, but also many doubters. They could have listened. They could have decided there were easier ways to spend their time. They could have lived a life of leisure.

They didn’t. They chose to compete in the uncompromising world of professional tennis. Whether they win or lose at their home Grand Slam this weekend, they will get at least some of the reward they have long been waiting for.

(Top photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)