semifinals

New York: Frances Tiafoe rallied from two sets down — and 3-0 down in the fifth set — to edge 22-year-old Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10/6) and reach the US Open semi-finals on Tuesday.

American 11th seed Tiafoe had all he could handle from his 22-year-old compatriot, who hadn’t dropped a set in reaching the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his career.

But in a match of swinging momentum shifts, Tiafoe battled back from 5-3 down in the third set and recovered an early break in the fifth to reach his third US Open semi-final in five years.

Tiafoe clinched it in the 10-point match tiebreaker after four hours and 38 minutes, Michelsen weeping in the victor’s arms as they met at the net.

Tiafoe will face either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or eighth-seeded American Ben Shelton for a place in Sunday’s championship match.

Michelsen came out swinging on Arthur Ashe Stadium against an uncharacteristically passive Tiafoe, who usually feeds on the energy of the crowd.

But when Michelsen found himself serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, his nerves betrayed him. Two double faults helped Tiafoe break back, and Tiafoe strung together seven straight games to close out the third set and seize control of the fourth.

Michelsen, who has yet to win a title on the ATP Tour, responded with an early break in the fifth set, but Tiafoe refused to fold.

“He gave me some gifts, a couple of double faults there,” Tiafoe said of his narrow escape in the third set.

“But then I slowly started to get my rhythm there, snuck out third set and slowly started playing better and better.

“But he is a hell of a player,” Tiafoe added. “He should have easily won today.”

When he had completed the comeback Tiafoe flung his arms into the air, then consoled a weeping Michelsen at the net.

“I was like, man, I know, I’ve been there,” Tiafoe told ESPN. “I know how much that hurts.”

Luke Littler’s hopes of qualifying for the Players Championship finals suffered another setback as he was beaten by Brendan Dolan in the semi-finals of PC28 in Leicester.

The world champion went a step further than he managed at Tuesday’s PC27, but still fell short of the title, which was won by fellow Englishman Luke Humphries with an 8-6 victory over Dolan.

“Luke has been by far the best player in the last 18 months and he deserves the world number one spot,” said world number two Humphries after his victory.

“He’s won everything and I am going to be the only one who’s trying to stop him.

“I want to go on and win a major this year. I don’t want him to have a clean sweep – as much as everyone would love to see it.”

Littler, meanwhile, climbed from 141st to 125th in the order of merit with prize money of £10,500 and posted on Instagram: “We are so on the move.”

But the semi-final defeat leaves the world number one with work to do in the race to reach November’s finals in his attempt to complete the calendar sweep of ranking events in 2026.

Only the top 64 players in the Players Championship qualify for Minehead.

And Littler, who skipped the first 26 events on the circuit, is currently £16,750 behind 64th-placed Shane McGuirk.

On Wednesday, the 19-year-old beat Benjamin Pratnemer, Martin Schindler and Krzysztof Ratajski to reach the final four, where he was denied by Northern Irishman Dolan.

The world number one has largely skipped the floor events this year in an effort to manage his schedule.

With the projected cutoff expected to exceed £30,000 after all 34 events, and only seven events remaining, Littler might travel to Den Bosch next month to boost his hopes of reaching the finals.

He has previously stated his intention to only feature in the UK events, and the two in Leicester on 4 and 5 November complete the qualification stage.

Littler was defeated by Jermaine Wattimena in the quarter-finals of PC27 on Tuesday.

Elena Rybakina stages a huge comeback to beat Naomi Osaka and will now play Coco Gauff for a place in the final.

Second-seeded Elena Rybakina fought back from a set and a break down to prevail 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in her Canadian Open quarterfinal against Naomi Osaka in Toronto on Tuesday.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon and 2026 ⁠Australian Open champion, will meet fourth-seeded Coco Gauff for a place in the final after the American’s opponent, Belinda Bencic, withdrew due to a hip injury.

In ⁠the first tour-level meeting between Osaka and Rybakina, the Japanese player looked to be cruising to victory after breaking in the opening game and holding that advantage to pocket the first set.

The four-time Grand Slam champion then surged to a 4-2 lead in ‌the second set, but Rybakina rallied and came out on top in a tiebreaker to force the decider.

In the third set, the Kazakh successfully defended four break points before breaking Osaka’s serve in back-to-back games to seize control and seal victory in two hours and 33 minutes.

“This first game of the match was really tough because it cost me the set,” Rybakina said. “In the second ⁠I was just trying to stay closer to the score, ⁠even if I’m losing.

“It’s rare when you don’t play some players for so many years you’re on tour. She’s a great champion. She’s a fighter. I knew it would be a tough match.”

Earlier ⁠on Tuesday, Gauff advanced without striking a ball after Bencic withdrew from their quarterfinal, giving the American more time to ⁠fine-tune her game before the US Open.

The 2023 ⁠US Open champion is into the 16th WTA 1000 semifinal of her career as the 22-year-old chases her first title of the year.

Gauff finished runner-up in Miami and Rome before her Wimbledon campaign ended ‌in a tight semifinal defeat. She has introduced new tactical elements to her game and has looked strong in Toronto, where she has not dropped a set.

The only ‌previous ‌meeting between Gauff and Rybakina was also in Toronto, where the American won in three sets in 2022.