Frances Tiafoe found a little something extra from Serena Williams on Sunday night.

After a difficult 2024 season, Frances Tiafoe is finding his form in New York again, and he may have had a little help from Serena Williams on Sunday night.

Tiafoe advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open after defeating No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin in four sets, 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, continuing his trend of peaking for the final Grand Slam of the season over his career.

After the match, Tiafoe revealed in an ESPN story an inspirational message that Williams gave him before the match.

“(She’s) telling me she’s always following no matter what, telling me it’s so good to see now that I’m done, you’re the guy of color playing and doing well,” Tiafoe said.

“I’m, like, damn. That’s really, really cool that she sees me as that.”

Tiafoe mounted a huge comeback to steal the second set from the Australian, who shocked the tennis world when he upset Novak Djokovic on Friday night, saving three set points and rallying from 3-5 0-40 down to steal it in a tiebreak. He lost the third set handily before rallying to close out the match in four sets.

American men with a chance to end Grand Slam drought at US Open

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The American men are lighting up this US Open, continuing the trend of tennis in the US rising through the ranks over the last few years.

As of Monday morning, three American men still remain in the draw out of 12 total players, continuing the trend of American men having a ton of success in New York in recent years.

Tiafoe’s win on Sunday night made him the first American man to reach three straight US Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick from 2006 to 2008, and he joins Roddick, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi as the only men to accomplish that feat since 2000.

In addition to Tiafoe, top-ranked American and No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz advanced to the quarterfinals with a comeback four-set victory over No. 8 seed Casper Ruud on Sunday afternoon, 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.

It is Fritz’s third Grand Slam quarterfinal of the season (Australian Open, Wimbledon) and his second consecutive US Open quarterfinal after he bowed out to Djokovic at that stage last year.

No. 14 seed and third-ranked American Tommy Paul will look to join Fritz and Tiafoe in the quarterfinals on Monday night when he takes on No. 1 ranked Jannik Sinner in the Labor Day nightcap.

The two have played three times previously, with Sinner winning two of them. Paul is looking to make his first career US Open quarterfinal.

Fritz and Tiafoe have their work cut out for them in the quarterfinals, as both will be up against top ten players on Tuesday.

Tiafoe will face No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov, and Fritz will take on No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev. Fritz is looking to make his first career Grand Slam semifinal, while Tiafoe will attempt to match his result from the 2022 US Open in the last four.

All three Americans left in the draw are attempting to end the American male Grand Slam drought, which has now extended for 21 years since Roddick won the 2003 US Open. With Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz out of the draw, this may be their best chance yet.