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Frances Tiafoe claims first US Open career win

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WHAT HAPPENED:  Frances Tiafoe has done a lot already in his young career.

The 20-year-old became the youngest American champion on the ATP Tour since Andy Roddick in 2002 when he won at Delray Beach earlier this year. He also was the first wild card entry to win the title in the 26-year tournament history. Tiafoe won the 2013 Orange Bowl junior title at age 15 to become that tournament’s youngest champion ever.

And at last year’s US Open, Tiafoe thrilled fans and gave Roger Federer a major scare by pushing the five-time champion and all-time great to five pulsating sets in the first round.

Still, Tiafoe had yet to win a match at the US Open in three tries.

Until Tuesday, when Tiafoe held on for a hard-fought 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over No. 29 Adrian Mannarino  that started in the steamy late afternoon sunshine and ended more than two-and-a-half hours later under the Grandstand lights.

“I didn’t know how hard it is to win one,” Tiafoe told the fans after he had flexed his muscles and high-fived fans to celebrate the milestone win.  

 

Tiafoe had appeared to be on his way to an uneventful victory after taking the opening two sets and breaking serve for a 2-1 third set lead. But the veteran 30-year-old Frenchman stiffened, breaking immediately back in the fourth game to even the set at 2-all. Mannarino, who reached the US Open third round last year for the third time in his career, broke serve again in the 10th game to claim the third set.

Tiafoe broke the left-hander’s serve for a 2-1 lead in the final set and held for 3-1. He held serve the rest of the set to wrap up the match, but not without a few tense moments.

In the sixth game, he saved one break point to finally hold serve for 4-2 on his fourth game point. In the last game, Mannarino saved one match point with a sharp backhand angle volley winner before Tiafoe pounded a backhand winner on the baseline that was not confirmed until an official video review.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN: The victory continues a breakout year for Tiafoe. In addition to winning his first ATP Tour career title at Delray Beach, he also made the final at Estoril and the quarterfinals at New York and Queen’s Club. He is currently at No. 44 in the ATP world rankings, a jump of more than 30 spots from his season-ending ranking in 2017. “It’s been one hell of a year,” said Tiafoe.

MATCH POINT:  In a curious matchup, Tiafoe next plays Australian Alex de Minaur, who is ranked one spot behind him. De Minaur had a much easier time beating Taro Daniel of Japan with the loss of just three games. This should be a test for Tiafoe to see if he can rebound both physically and mentally from the emotion of today’s win.