Francis Tiafoe (pictured above), the No. 14 seed in the USTA International Spring Championships Boys’ 18 Singles Division, is the lone remaining JTCC player in the tournament.
In a nail-biting two and half hour match, Tiafoe triumped over No. 10 seed Daniel Kerznerman, 3-6, 6-3. 7-6(3). This was the second consecutive third-set tiebreak match for the 15-year-old Tiafoe.
He will face the second overall seed Stefan Kozlov in a Semifinal showdown.
“He’s considered the best from ’98 in the U.S., and I put myself at No. 2,” Tiafoe said of Kozlov. “He’s an unbelievable player, Top 15 in the world. I’ve never been able to beat him and he’s gotten the better of me the three or four times we’ve played.”
On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 seed Noah Rubin fell in straight sets to Henrik Wiersholm of Kirkland, Washington, 6-4, 6-3. Henrik will play the No. 4 seed Noaki Nakagawa.
In other Day 5 matches, here are the results involving JTCC players:
Boy’s 18 Doubles Semifinals
-No. 3 seed Spencer Papa and Alexander Zverev defeated No. 1 seed Luca Cortinteli (JTCC) and Martin Redlicki, 3-6, 6-4, 10-4
Boys’ 16 Doubles Semifinals
-No. 8 seed Taylor Fritz and Daniel Gealer defeated No. 6 seed Emil Reinberg and Brian Tsao, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.
*Tiafoe quote courtesy of the Tennis East Coast blog
