Cheered on by NBA legend Kevin Durant, American Frances Tiafoe opened his Mubadala Citi DC Open campaign with a tight 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win against Aslan Karatsev on Tuesday.
The second seed Tiafoe, who has claimed titles in Houston and Stuttgart this year, thrilled the home crowd with his shotmaking ability throughout the two-hour, nine-minute contest and absorbed Karatsev’s firepower to advance at the ATP 500 event.
Playing in his first match since Wimbledon, the 25-year-old Tiafoe fought off a set point on serve at 5-4 in the second set to avoid going the distance and later in the tie-break, he won four consecutive points after falling behind 3/5.
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“Unbelievable match tonight. It was so tight all the way through, he really made me earn it,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. “I’m just happy to get through. He’s a tough player, he’s made the semis of a Grand Slam and he’s very, very dangerous. Very tough first round.”
With Durant sitting courtside, Tiafoe earned his second Lexus ATPHead2Head win against Karatsev to set a first-time meeting against 18-year-old Chinese star Shang Juncheng in the second round. In his seventh appearance in Washington, World No. 10 Tiafoe’s best result at the hard-court tournament came last year, when he made the quarter-finals before falling to eventual champion Nick Kyrgios.
Kevin Durant attends Tuesday’s evening session at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. Credit: Ben Solomon
Earlier in the day, Michael Mmoh saved three match points to upset fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(4). Despite having a match point of his own on return at 6-5 in the second set, Mmoh was pushed to a decider before closing the exciting two-hour, 55-minute battle.
The American traded blows from the baseline with the World No. 17 and produced a highlight reel of winners to earn his third Top 20 win of the season. Hurkacz will rue letting slip three match points, one of which came after winning a gruelling 38-shot rally at deuce. All three of the Pole’s match points came on return at 5-4 in the third set, but Mmoh held his nerve and continued to play aggressive to escape.
Australian Jordan Thompson ousted wild card Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-1 after winning 56 per cent of points behind his second serve, compared to the South African’s 40 per cent. Anderson, 37, was playing just his second tournament since returning from retirement in July. Emil Ruusuvuori produced a clean-hitting performance to rally past last year’s finalist Yoshihito Nishioka 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 after two hours, seven minutes.
Alexander Shevchenko upset eighth seed Sebastian Korda 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4 to close the day. Shevchenko, 22, saved 19 of 24 of break-points faced to survive the World No. 26.