With the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders, American Frances Tiafoe rose to the occasion on Wednesday by reaching his first grand slam semifinal with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/0), 6-4 win over Russian Andrey Rublev at the US Open.

He is the only local hope left in the draw, after Coco Gauff and Jess Pegula failed to get past the women's quarters.

Not since Andy Roddick in 2003 has a US man won the title at Flushing Meadows and the pressure was on for the 24-year-old to build on his stunning win over second-seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.

He did not disappoint, launching 18 aces and 46 winners in a dominant performance, injecting new excitement among the home crowd after 23-time major winner Serena Williams bowed out in what is expected to be her final appearance in the third round.

"This is wild, this is crazy," Tiafoe said. "We've got two more."

Rublev put up a fight for two sets but his game unravelled as Tiafoe stormed through the second-set tie-break. The Russian shouted out in anger and whacked his racquet after an ace from the American flew past him.

The Russian tearily bit down on a tennis ball and sat with his face buried in a towel after Tiafoe triumphed in a 16-shot rally to get the only break of the match in the seventh game of the third set.

Tiafoe sealed the win with an ace, to the delight of the roaring crowd seated in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.