When was the last time an American reached the US Open men’s singles final?

2024 could prove to be a special year for American tennis, with two men, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, and one woman, Emma Navarro, having reached the semifinals of their respective singles events. Jessica Pegula could make it a US quartet in the last four, but must defeat world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.

American success in women’s singles at US Open

There has been plenty of American success in the women’s singles event in the recent past. Just last year, Coco Gauff won her first ever Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows at the age of 19, while Sloane Stephens defeated Madison Keys in an all-American final in 2017.

Before that, Serena Williams, a beaten finalist in 2018 and 2019, won six titles between 1999 and 2014, and sister Venus also triumphed twice at the start of the 2000s.

Who is the last American to have reached the US Open men’s singles final?

Things have been rather different over on the men’s side, though. Fritz and Tiafoe have been drawn to face one another in the semifinals, which means an American men’s singles finalist is guaranteed for the first time in 18 years.

In 2006, Andy Roddick, seeded ninth, reached the showpiece Game but was beaten by top seed Roger Federer, by then at the peak of his powers. The Nebraska native levelled the contest by taking the second set but was no match for the Swiss overall.

Who is the last male American to win the US Open and any Grand Slam?

Roddick is also the answer to other ‘who was the last American male...’ questions.

Until this year, he was the most recent man from the United States to win both the US Open and indeed any Grand Slam, which he achieved in New York in 2003. On that occasion, he defeated Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets in the final.

His appearance in the Wimbledon final in 2009, which he also lost to Federer, is the most recent of any American male in a Grand Slam, a fact that will have to be updated following the Fritz-Tiafoe semifinal.