Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, celebrates winning a match against Alex Michelsen, of the United States, during the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK — Frances Tiafoe kept coming back until he had reached his third US Open semifinal, beating Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6) on Tuesday.

Tiafoe, who lost the first two sets and then trailed 3-0 in the fifth, finally ended the match in 4 hours, 38 minutes. He then jogged over to the other side of the net, where the 22-year-old Michelsen cried on his shoulder after a devastating end to his first career major quarterfinal.

Tiafoe said his performance to start the match was slow and flat.

READ: Arthur Fils tops Tiafoe to claim first ATP Masters title in Cincinnati

“It wasn’t good, let’s put it that way. It wasn’t good,” he said. “Three out of five is a blessing, because you have time to get it together. I definitely waited for the last minute.”

The No. 11-seeded Tiafoe, who reached the final four in 2022 and 2024, awaits the winner of the late match between defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and No. 8 Ben Shelton, who will try to guarantee the Americans have someone in the final Sunday as they seek their first men’s Grand Slam title since 2003.

Tiafoe planned to watch some of it.

“I’m going to enjoy this one, though. Let’s go!” he told the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Tiafoe lost to Alcaraz in 2022, when the Spaniard won his first of seven Grand Slam titles. Tiafoe lost to fellow American Taylor Fritz two years later, when the US came closest to ending its men’s drought that dates to Andy Roddick’s title in Flushing Meadows.

It certainly didn’t appear Tiafoe would be going back this time, after Michelsen continued his dominant run through his breakout tournament. He was the only man who hadn’t dropped a set, and he served to win the match with a 5-4 lead in the third. He got off to a nervous start with consecutive double faults, and Tiafoe eventually broke when Michelsen couldn’t put away a shot at the net.

READ: Frances Tiafoe smashes his racket in first-round loss at Tokyo Open

“I feel the first three sets I was on top of him. I feel like he didn’t really — he wasn’t playing like Frances. Then I kind of let him back in at 5-4,” Michelsen said. “Then after that, he was playing like Frances does on Ashe. After that, it was a dogfight.”

Tiafoe, who had made two previous comebacks after dropping the first two sets, was still in plenty of trouble. Michelsen broke early in the fifth en route to his 3-0 lead, with Tiafoe spiking his racket to the court in frustration at one point.

But he recovered again and eventually took control by winning three straight points in the match tiebreaker for a 7-4 lead, then hitting an ace at 135 mph after Michelsen got the next two.

Tiafoe joined Andre Agassi as the only American men to reach three US Open semifinals in this century and will return to the top 10 for the first time in three years in the next rankings.

Michelsen, ranked No. 46, fell to 0-6 in matches that go to a fifth set.

Jose Mourinho‘s Real Madrid secured a narrow 2-1 victory over his former side Inter Milan in a high-octane Champions League opener on Tuesday.

The record 15-time European champions took a two-goal lead through Kylian Mbappe and Fede Valverde thanks to two Inter errors in the first half.

Carlos Augusto smashed home for Cristian Chivu’s team in the second half but they could not find an equaliser at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid coach Mourinho led the Italian side to Champions League glory in 2010 at the same stadium, the last time either they or he managed to lift the trophy, a few days before joining Los Blancos for his first stint at the helm.

After two seasons without a major trophy and enduring early European exits, Madrid president Florentino Perez brought back the Portuguese veteran to try and stop the rot, and Mourinho got the team off to both a triumphant and entertaining start to the league phase.

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Mourinho’s side bounced back from a first defeat of the season at Real Betis in La Liga on Friday, although goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made several smart saves and Inter were wasteful.

The Italians started energetically in attack but were destabilised by two grievous errors at the back. Madrid stopper Courtois denied Marcus Thuram and then Lautaro Martinez as the visitors probed.

However, in the 14th minute Curtis Jones’s poor pass put Yann Bisseck under pressure and Brahim Diaz poked the ball through to Mbappe, who swiftly fired home.

Madrid‘s second was gobbled up by Valverde when Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez dallied on the ball despite the Uruguay international charging straight for him.

When the Spanish stopper realised, it was too late and as he tried to turn Valverde pried the ball away from him and into the net.

Mourinho’s side should have added another before half-time but Martinez made amends for his mistake with a sensational save to thwart Jude Bellingham.

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Madrid hold on

Mbappe blazed past Inter’s defence and Martinez saved his low shot before somehow blocking Bellingham’s effort from point-blank range.

Bellingham missed another golden chance before the hour mark after Diaz cleverly worked his way into the area and crossed for him.

The England international might have headed home straight away but chose to control the ball and gave goalkeeper Martinez time to fly across his line and save the eventual shot.

Courtois added to his collection of impressive saves by pushing away Alessandro Bastoni’s low drive as Inter tried to find a foothold.

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Madrid carved Inter open but could not put the game to bed, with Martinez saving from Mbappe and Diaz then sliding narrowly wide.

Carlos Augusto blasted past Courtois from Lautaro Martinez’s cross in the 77th minute to give Madrid a nervy ending to the game.

Madrid fans were upset when Alvaro Carreras was made to wait for a minute on the sidelines before he could come on as a substitute, because Vinicius Junior took too long to come off when he was replaced.

Courtois beat away a deflected Henrikh Mkhitaryan effort to ensure his team took all three points.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso opened up about the advice he gave to shortstop Gunnar Henderson as the 25-year-old is going through a challenging stretch. Alonso said that he can relate to what the $8.5M Orioles star, who signed a one-year contract to avoid arbitration in January this year, is currently going through.

Gunnar Henderson has already established himself as one of MLB’s top players. However, as he’s dealing with a slump, Alonso, during an interview with ex-MLB’er Ryan Ripken, advised him to focus on the task at hand and not on arbitration, trade-deadline questions, or his long-term contract.

He stressed remaining calm and not getting consumed by the outside noise. Alonso expressed that he knows what it’s like because he’s “been in his (Gunnar Henderson’s) shoes.” However, he warned the rest of the league to “watch out” because even if the situation “s*cks” now, it’ll be a total turnaround when it “clicks.”

“The rest of the league has gotten lucky that you have played this way for this extended period of time… People are still giving you the same amount of attention because they know what you’re capable of. They know what you can do,” Pete Alonso said.

“They know you can totally take over and be a one-man wrecking crew. So they’re doing whatever they can to keep their thumb down on you and keep suppressing you. But I was like, dude, keep working through it.”

Pete Alonso also believes Gunnar Henderson can make a major impact for the Orioles if they reach the postseason. He said that once they get in, Henderson is “going to lead us to the World Series.” Alonso admitted that the current situation “stinks,” but if the young star keeps grinding, things will start to click. “It’s going to be like a beast, like being unleashed from a cage that’s been starved,” he said.

Pete Alonso sends heartfelt message to Orioles fans

Apart from sharing the advice he has given to Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso also took a moment to thank the Baltimore Orioles fans for their support. He thanked them for backing him and his wife, Haley, throughout the season. He added that although the season has not gone perfectly, he’s still grateful to the fans for showing up and supporting the team.

Alonso still believes the Orioles can be in the playoff race and vowed to do everything he can to make it happen. He said,

“We have a great opportunity, and we’re playing the right teams that we need to play in order to get into the dance in October. So I’m really excited. I know that playoff baseball means the world to this city, to this organization,” Pete Alonso said.

“And, I mean, you have my word that I’m doing whatever I can to get the boys going and pulling my weight. So I appreciate you guys.”

He said that he’s looking ahead to the special atmosphere when Baltimore reaches the postseason. Alonso is particularly excited to see the sea of “orange towels” throughout the ballpark.