#tbt: Andy Roddick comes of age in first US Open semifinal in 2003

WATCH: Roddick made Ons Jabeur's day when the two finally met at the US Open this week.

NEW YORK—A year removed from Pete Sampras’ 14th and final Grand Slam title, it was all about Andy Roddick in 2003.

The 2000 junior US Open champion was on an accelerated path towards the top of men’s tennis, parlaying back-to-back quarterfinal finishes in Flushing Meadows with a breakout season that saw him reach the semifinals at both Australian Open and Wimbledon.

“I probably didn't go into the last two Opens to win,” he said in a conference call before the 2003 US Open began. “I probably went in to make a good run. I definitely want to try to take this title. I know that's big talk, but I feel like I've played pretty well this summer.”

“Pretty well” would be an understatement: after bowing out to eventual Wimbledon champion Roger Federer on Centre Court, Roddick went on a tear through the North American summer hard-court swing, winning three titles and two Masters—avenging the defeat to Federer en route to victory in Montréal.

All had come together after Roddick paired up with coach Brad Gilbert, the former player of “Winning Ugly” fame.

“The first time I ever called Brad, I said, ‘I'd be interested in talking to you about possibly coaching me.’ He was in California and I was in England at the time, and he said, ‘Okay. I'll be there tomorrow.’

“For someone to just drop everything and really sound so excited on a moment's notice, that was pretty impressive to me.”

The two worked on a hyper-aggressive game plan built around Roddick’s impenetrable serve and explosive forehand, a plan that paid dividends on the US Open’s Decoturf courts and took him through five matches with the loss of just one set.

In the semifinals the No. 4 seed, who celebrated his birthday at the Open days earlier, took on 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian. Nalbandian had extended his unbeaten record against Federer to reach the quarterfinals and played the physical game that could absorb all Roddick’s pace.

Down two sets and heading into a third-set tiebreaker, all signs pointed to the Argentine reaching another major final at the American’s expense.

“I feel confident right now, so I didn't feel like there was need to panic,” Roddick said after the match. “I definitely wasn't feeling good about my prospects, but I didn't think it was 100 percent over. I just tried to play it point for point and not really worry about what had already transpired.”

On the brink of defeat, Roddick struck his 27th ace to erase match point, and dug out of the Sudden Death to roll through the final two sets: 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1, 6-3.

“Digging deep hasn't been my problem before,” Roddick said. “You know, probably if this would have happened a year ago, I probably would have freaked out that I was down, gotten upset. I tried to keep it pretty even keel. I think that's what it's brought a little bit of calmness.”

The calm carried into the final, where he dispatched fellow 21-year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets to capture his first Grand Slam title—and what looked to be a definitive changing of the guard.

“No more, ‘What's it feel like to be the future of American tennis’ crap!” Roddick exclaimed in his post-winning presser. “No more.”

Though many talented Americans played with and after Roddick, it would take 16 years for Frances Tiafoe to follow Roddick and play well enough at home to reach his first US Open semifinal.

Much like Roddick, Tiafoe’s run has taken him from the future of American men’s tennis to the start of a glorious present.

“I just so happen to be the guy doing the run right now,” he said after defeating Andrey Rublev in the quarters. “I'm sure come next year in the slams, they will be doing just exactly the same. Everyone is super capable. American tennis is in a great place.

“We are all starting to really get into our primes, and we will see where that takes us.”