A focused Frances Tiafoe recorded the biggest win of his career to date with a second round victory over Germany’s Alexander Zverev, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
This was the first win over a top 10 player for the JTCC alumnus. Zverev, who is #7 in the ATP world rankings, came into the match with a 10-match win streak and back-to-back championships at the ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington, DC and the ATP 1000 Coupe Rogers in Montreal, Canada.
Tiafoe consistently put his opponent under pressure winning 69% of his second serve returns resulting in six service breaks against Zverev during the two-hour contest.
The 19-year-old gained revenge for two prior losses to Zverev earlier in 2017 at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. With the win, Tiafoe will move up a minimum of 20 spots from his current #87 ATP world ranking.
Tiafoe faces world #19 John Isner in the Round of 16 on Thursday in the third match on center court at 3 pm EST. The two battled at the 2016 US Open where Tiafoe claimed the opening two sets against the veteran American before ultimately succumbing in a 5th set tiebreak.
“Frances has been on the verge of a breakthrough success all year,” said JTCC Senior Director of High Performance, Frank Salazar, who coached Tiafoe as a junior. “The confidence he will gain from beating a top 10 player for the first time will set him up well to continue his winning run in Cincinnati and on to the US Open.”
Frances Tiafoe celebrates in Cincinnati (credit: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour)
