Tiafoe 'finds spark' to win Washington three-setter

Hometown hero Frances Tiafoe made a second-set turnaround to avoid an upset Tuesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where he defeated Daniel Elahi Galan 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3.

Tiafoe, No. 29 in the PIF ATP Rankings, earned a key break at 3-3 in the second set, when Galan missed an easy forehand putaway in the net to end a back-and-forth 12-ball rally. It was a crushing blow for the Colombian, who despite the loss struck 22 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

A two-time quarter-finalist at the ATP 500, Tiafoe delivered another gut punch by breaking the World No. 124 to close the second set. With the Washington, D.C. crowd vocally supporting him, Tiafoe took free cuts at the ball, raising his level to close the second-round match after two hours, 22 minutes. The evening clash on Stadium court was interrupted for 40 minutes due to rain in the eighth game of the first set.

"I was happy I stayed with it," the 26-year-old said. "Early in the second, I was a little sloppy. I was pretty pissed I lost that first set. I kept holding it out, found a little spark there from midway in the second set to the end where I thought I played really well. The biggest thing was that I served great, a bunch of aces, a lot of free points. That helped me a lot."

The fifth seed won 82 per cent (45/55) of his first-serve points and hammered 14 aces in humid conditions to advance. Up next for Tiafoe will be 11th seed Roberto Carballes Baena or Aleksandar Kovacevic, who was one of five Americans to advance Tuesday. Kovacevic defeated Atlanta champion Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Fourth seed Sebastian Korda raced past Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-2 while 13th seed Brandon Nakashima downed Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 6-2. Mitchell Krueger advanced after Luca Nardi retired with the American leading 7-6(3), 4-1.

#NextGenATP Shang Juncheng and Luca Van Assche moved into the second round. The Chinese lefty Shang is up two places to second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah following his 6-4, 6-3 win against Elias Ymer. Van Assche beat fellow Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-3.

Shang, 19, is aiming for his maiden trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Alex Michelsen, seeded 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 a substantial first-place lead.

Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis rallied past countryman Max Purcell 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 and Miomir Kecmanovic beat J.J. Wolf 6-2, 6-3. Denis Shapovalov was a 6-2, 6-1 winner against Adrian Mannarino while Radu Albot ousted 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.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]