Tiafoe Flies Into US Open Third Round

Frances Tiafoe produced a rock-solid performance Wednesday when he cruised past Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the US Open second round.

The 10th seed was watertight from the baseline to oust Ofner 6-3, 6-1, 6-4, committing just 14 unforced errors throughout the one-hour, 31-minute contest. A semi-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, Tiafoe showed precision on serve, dropping just five points behind his first delivery and saving the lone break point he faced all match.

The American thrilled the home crowd with easy firepower from his forehand and struck several passing shots by Ofner, who was making his US Open main-draw debut.

“I thought I played really solid tonight. I thought I hit the ball really well from both sides,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. “I could have served a bit better tonight, but other than that, I didn’t have so many unforced errors. I put a lot of pressure on him. I hit my forehand great tonight and moved really well tonight. A win is a win and we are on to the next one.”

A three-time tour-level titlist, Tiafoe is competing this fortnight at a career-high World No. 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He will next meet 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino for their third Lexus ATP Head2Head series meeting (1-1). The Frenchman Mannarino advanced after defeating Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

Ofner, 27, holds the most match wins on the ATP Challenger Tour this season (35-12). The World No. 58 enjoyed a surprise run at Roland Garros, where he reached the fourth round as a qualifier, leading to his Top 100 debut.