Tiafoe 'proud' of comeback season despite US Open semi-final loss to Shelton

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tiafoe-frances/AHDLJaph/"]Tiafoe[/a], appearing in his third ‌US Open semi-final, was unable to take the final step, falling to ‌eighth seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shelton-ben/QNuG0Gzb/"]Shelton[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/shelton-b-QNuG0Gzb/tiafoe-f-AHDLJaph/?mid=SYNayX0T"]4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5[/a].[/p][p]Yet his run at ‌Flushing Meadows guaranteed the 28-year-old will climb to a new career-high ranking of world number eight once the post-tournament rankings are released, returning him ‌to the top 10 for the first ⁠time since 2023.[/p][p][b]"It's been a ‌great season for me, but also, you know, this one is tough," [/b]​Tiafoe told reporters.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="ab74327e-b0e9-40c1-a362-8a4c8736c963" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="31585e0b-4209-4a02-b63a-27ced606b69e" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]"We wanted to win this one. You know, it's just the last couple of weeks, it's been ​great weeks, but haven't been able to finish, and that's probably going to be the next thing for me.[/b][/p][p][b]"I was doing ⁠my interview here last ​year, and it was really bad how I felt where I was at,"[/b] he said. [b]"I'm upset, but I'm at the same time so proud of myself of where I've been."[/b][/p][p]Tiafoe said his ultimate ‌goal, winning a major title, remained unchanged.[/p][p][b]"I want to do the thing, man. I want to be a Grand Slam champion one day and just get back to the drawing board and keep working,"[/b] he said.[/p][embed guid="26d8dacb-5b24-4a5b-a69a-4b0246961935" url="https://x.com/atptour/status/2098613646863597584" social-type="twitter" /][p]The support he receives in New York made another deep run particularly meaningful, but also left him wanting more.[/p][p][b]"I just want to win it, man. I mean, the love is incredible. It's something that gives me definitely tears ‌in my eyes from a kid starting how I did, and ​the love I have here is crazy."[/b][/p][p]He will now turn ‌his attention to the final stretch of the season and a place at the ATP Finals in Turin, November's season-ending event for the highest-ranked players.[/p][p][b]"I'm going to probably feel sorry for myself the next couple of days, but after ⁠that, I can start working ⁠again and get to ‌Turin," [/b]he said.[/p][infobox id="3dc51b3a-107f-482b-9173-a97d347ef1b3" /]