Frances Tiafoe ‘finds spark’ to win Washington in three setters | ATP Tour

Washington

Tiafoe ‘finds the spark’ to win Washington in three setters

Korda, Nakashima among other Americans to move forward

July 31, 2024

Hometown hero Frances Tiafoe made a second comeback to avoid an upset on Tuesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, defeating Daniel Elahi Galan 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3.

Tiafoe, No. 29 in the PIF ATP Rankings, earned a crucial break at 3-3 in the second set, when Galan missed an easy forehand through the net to end the 12-ball contest. It was a devastating blow for the Colombian, who despite the loss hit 22 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

A two-time ATP 500 quarter-finalist, Tiafoe delivered another gut punch by upending World No. 124 to close the second set. With the Washington, DC crowd cheering loudly, Tiafoe took the free throws, increasing his level to close out the second-round match after two hours, 22 minutes. The evening match at the Stadium court was interrupted for 40 minutes due to rain in the eighth game of the first set.

“I’m happy I stayed with it,” said the 26-year-old player. “At the beginning of the second, I was sloppy. I was upset that I lost the first set. I kept holding it, I got a little spark from the middle of the second set to the end where I thought I played very well. The biggest thing is that I worked well, a lot of aces, a lot of free points that helped me a lot.

The fifth seed won 82 percent (45/55) of his first match points and hit 14 aces on a damp surface to advance. Next up for Tiafoe will be 11th seed Roberto Carballes Baena or Aleksandar Kovacevic, who was one of five Americans to advance on Tuesday. Kovacevic defeated Atlanta champion Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Fourth seed Sebastian Korda cruised past Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-2 and 13th seed Brandon Nakashima beat Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 6-2. Mitchell Krueger advanced after Luca Nardi retired with America leading 7-6 (3), 4-1.

#NextGenATP Shang Juncheng and Luca Van Assche are into the second round. China’s Shang moved up to second place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah following his 6-4, 6-3 win over Elias Ymer. Van Assche beat fellow Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-3.

Shang, 19, is aiming for his first trip to the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Alex Michelsen, who finished 15th, could leapfrog third-placed Jakub Mensik and Shang in the Race To Jeddah with a second-round win in Washington. Frenchman Arthur Fils holds the lead in first place.

Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis got past Max Purcell 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 and Miomir Kecmanovic beat JJ Wolf 6-2, 6-3. Denis Shapovalov won 6-2, 6-1 over Adrian Mannarino and Radu Albot defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta 7-6(5), 6-3.

Did you know?
An American man has not won the Washington title since Andy Roddick in 2007.