Taylor's fitness and defense has come a long way. I don't think they are the liability they once were, and he has some of the bigger weapons in men's tennis. He outlasted Tiafoe in that match. As
@kihei said, that long rally seemed to be the end of Tiafoe for this match.
It's sort of fitting Fritz ends up being the American to break the "getting to the final" of a slam streak since Roddick however many years ago because he's been the best American since Roddick, and that may sound pathetic but I believe it to be true. He's had a pretty great season in the slams. Think he's made the second week in all of them. Yeah, he's probably not ever going to even reach the top 5 (still would only reach 6 with a win, which is his previous career high), but he's pretty consistently been like 6-15 range in the sport for his prime. That's not at all bad.
This tournament for him probably ends with like a 4 or 5 set loss to Sinner, but who knows? He's playing very well and I don't think Jannik will just overwhelm him. If this was like a QF of a 1000 or whatever in March, no one would really bat an eye if Fritz beat Sinner. Sinner has been there and done that and is the better player. Fritz hasn't been there and done that and doesn't defend as well as Jannik, but I think there's a realistic chance, even if Sinner is the favorite. Would end up only the third 90's born player to win a Slam, as crazy as that sounds.
Great tournament Tiafoe put up there. I want to see him show more consistency though. If he plays like he seems to each US Open (believe it was QF's in 2022, SF's in 2023 and 2024), he's a top 10 player in the world. Even if this is the "high", just be a little more competitive throughout the year. He goes through too many stretches where he's barely like a seed level player at a slam and then balances it out with a few months where he's legitimately a top 10 player in the world. I guess thats most decent players, but I still feel like he's not just "getting hot" and this is a level he's capable of week after week, but he seems to lose his focus or confidence or fitness or whatever.