New York has been waiting, Flushing Meadows has been waiting.

It’s been 19 years since an American man reached a US Open singles final, but Tuesday’s quarter-final results ensured the waiting will finally be over.

The only thing to be determined is who will keep the dream alive.

On Friday night, under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz will do battle for a place in the men’s singles final and, no matter who wins, the US will have a moment that has been too many years in the making.

A first men’s US Open finalist since 2006 – and first men’s Grand Slam finalist since 2009.

Andy Roddick will no longer be the unwanted answer to a quiz question – both quiz questions.

In 2006, Roddick was beaten – not for the first or last time – by Roger Federer. Three years previous, Roddick had beaten Juan Carlos Ferrero to lift his only major title.

Roddick’s 2009 Wimbledon defeat to Federer was the last final of any kind for the American men – it was also Roddick’s fourth Grand Slam final defeat to the Swiss icon.

Tiafoe and Fritz will now have their shot at history – a storied history for American men in the Big Apple that has slowed up.

Between Jimmy Connors lifting his first Flushing Meadows crown in 1974, to lifting his last in 1983, he and John McEnroe shared nine of the 11 men’s titles in that period.

In 1990 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras came along to win win the first of five US Opens in 12 years – but those days of dominance are gone, to the point where semi-finals appearances were celebrated.

For each of the last two years, an American man has reached the last-four, only to come up short.

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In 2023 – having seen off Tiafoe in five thrilling quarter-final sets – it was Ben Shelton, beaten by a celebration-stealing Novak Djokovic

In 2022, it was Tiafoe, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz who was on the way to his first Grand Slam title – three more have followed for the young Spaniard.

However in 2024 there will be no Alcaraz, there will be no Djokovic. Rafael Nadal is injured and Federer is long since retired to the suite seats where he watched on Tuesday night.

Grand Slam winners Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev lurk in the other side of the draw, but as Tiafoe himself said: “It’s not like we’re at a point where you make a quarter-final, you play [Nadal] and you’re looking at flights. That’s just the reality.

“Now it’s totally different. Like, no one’s unbeatable”

Tiafoe will be back and it’s tough to think he won’t be the man the crowd, and America, is rooting for.

Nothing against Fritz, whose huge serve, improved consistency and hard work is worthy of his moment and his status as the American No.1 – the US Open is his third quarter-final or better in the 2024 Grand Slams.

Tiafoe’s story is one that personifies the American dream, as he outlined in his Players Tribute article in 2017.

“I’m the son of immigrant parents from Sierra Leone.

“When I was a kid, my dad got a construction job at College Park Tennis Club in 1999, a new tennis academy in the D.C. area.

“While my dad worked, I picked up the game during nights and weekends at the facility when the other kids weren’t around. I’d hit against the wall by myself, mimicking techniques I had seen older boys at the academy do.

“I’d imagine I was playing against Rafa or Roger in the U.S. Open, that those guys were just on the other side of the wall.⁠ ⁠ Eventually, I was accepted into the academy, and the rest is history.

“I like to tell everybody that I didn’t choose tennis, tennis chose me — that I was built to play this sport — but that didn’t make it any easier for me.”

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Tiafoe seems to personify New York. He comes alive in the final Grand Slam of the year where for the third year in succession he has reached the last eight, and for the second time in three years is in the semi-finals.

In 31 other Grand Slam main draw appearances he has one single quarter-final to his name – the 2019 Australian Open.

Tiafoe is now 26 and unquestionably ready for the biggest of stages. His shotmaking skills are second only to his showmanship, his athleticism among the best on the circuit.

Two ATP titles in 2023 – his first since 2018 – seemed to suggest he had finally got over a mental barrier, but 2024 has been a struggle until his return to the US.

He reached the Cincinnati Open final where he was beaten by Sinner – the same man could await in the final.

While Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff have quenched the thirst of the raucous New York crowd by racking up women’s titles, the men have largely disappointed.

The glory years of McEnroe vs Connors, Sampras vs Andre Agassi and Roddick are long gone.

A total of 85 US Open titles have been won by an American man, 19 in the Open-era. 

Five each for Sampras and Connors, four for McEnroe and two for Agassi – on Sunday either Tiafoe or Fritz will be one win away from joining the list.