Friday Night 'Foe: Tiafoe upsets Rublev in front of raucous Washington crowd

Local hero Frances Tiafoe broke new ground Friday night at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The American rode a raucous Washington crowd to his first Top 10 win since 2022, with his 6-4, 7-6(3) upset of top seed Andrey Rublev sending him through the the semi-finals for the first time at the ATP 500.

"I saw the crowd and I was like, 'God, it's going to be epic tonight,' " Tiafoe said. "I was even telling Andrey before, it's going to be pretty rowdy. I was super happy to see everyone come out on a Friday night and want to come watch me. It was incredible."

The Maryland native broke midway through the opening set after an electric start, then battled back from 1-4 in the second to advance at the tournament where he made his ATP Tour debut in 2014.

"It helped early that I was serving pretty well. And then after [a big forehand] and couple other shots... I was hitting a lot of great volleys and flick shots," said the fifth seed. "That was getting me going. It's one of those things where you're like, 'Ah, it's going to be one of those days.' And then you kind off just ride with the intensity and try to get on the guy."

After improving to 3-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against the Rublev, Tiafoe is up two places to No. 27 this week in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. He can re-renter the Top 25 by winning his first title of 2024 on Sunday.

Next up for the 26-year-old is an all-American semi-final showdown against Sebastian Korda.

"He's such a clean player," Tiafoe said of his next opponent. "He's got a good serve, returns well, moves well for a big guy. I'm just going too have to play really well, play pretty clinical. Whoever can be on the front foot and dictating the other guy is going to be in a winning position. Hopefully that's me."

Korda, after saving two match points Thursday against Thanasi Kokkinakis, earned a far more straightforward victory against another Aussie on Friday. With a 6-4, 6-2 result against Jordan Thompson, the fourth-seeded American advanced to his fourth semi-final of the season.

The victory saw Korda move back to. No 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, a mark that would match his career-high PIF ATP Ranking from June. The 24-year-old can move up to No. 18 if he matches his father, Petr Korda (1992), by winning the Washington title.

In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Thompson, Korda hit 10 aces and saved the lone break point against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

The opposite semi-final will see second seed Ben Shelton take on 10th seed Flavio Cobolli.

Shelton led the resurgent Denis Shapovalov 7-6(5), 6-6(6-3), and had triple match point when the Canadian was defaulted after making a comment to a fan. By coming through the all-lefty battle, the American improved to 4-0 in quarter-finals on home soil and improved his season record to 26-16 — equalling his win tally from 2023, his first full year on the ATP Tour.

Cobolli was a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(2) winner against #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen. The 22-year-old Italian, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last November, saved five match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round to reach his first ATP 500 quarter-final. He is now through to his second tour-level semi-final overall, after reaching that stage in Geneva in May.

Cobolli is up six places this week to No. 42 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting himself up for a career high. He will crack the Top 40 with one more win and will enter the Top 30 with his first title.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]