American Frances Tiafoe treated his fans in Washington to a treat as he overcame Aslan Karatsev 7-6(5) 7-6(5) and seal his place in the next round of the Citi Open. The world No. 10 will meet China’s Shang Juncheng in the second round. Elsewhere, Dominic Thiam came from a set down to beat Zhang Zhizhen 1-6 6-3 6-2 as he advanced to the quarter-final of the Austrian Open.
Frances Tiafoe battled to overcome Aslan Karatsev 7-6(5) 7-6(5) and seal his place in the last 16 of the Citi Open in Washington.
The American was making his first appearance since losing in the fourth round of Wimbledon to Grigor Dimitrov – a defeat he described as “horrible” and “depressing”.
But he showed no ill effects as he fended off a set point on serve in the second set, and in the tie-break won four consecutive points after falling behind 3/5.
“Unbelievable match tonight. It was so tight all the way through, he really made me earn it,” Tiafoe, the second seed, said.
“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.”
Tiafoe, the world No. 10, will meet China’s Shang Juncheng in the second round.
British No. 2 Dan Evans roared back from a set down to beat Gregoire Barrere 2-6 6-0 6-3.
Just a day after teaming up with Andy Murray in the doubles, Evans cut a frustrated figure as he lost his first service game, only to break back immediately.
However, he was powerless to prevent the Frenchman from breaking twice more en route to taking the first set 6-2.
Ninth seed Evans approached the second set with a new mindset and proved too strong for his opponent, securing a bagel to level the match.
The third set was a much closer contest but Evans refused to relinquish control as he ran out the victor.
The in-form Christopher Eubanks, who has just made his way into the world’s top 30, defeated Sho Shimabukuro 6-3 6-4, while Felix Auger Aliassime crashed out following a 7-6(10) 7-6(3) defeat to Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki.
Elina Svitolina cruised through to the quarter-finals in Washington courtesy of a straights set win over Daria Kasatkina.
Svitolina continued her impressive run of form since returning to the tour in April following the birth of her first child with a 6-2 6-2 victory over her Russian opponent.
For the second day in a row, following Svitolina’s 7-6(2) 6-4 win over Victoria Azarenka on Monday, there were no handshakes between the players and no boos from the crowd.
Ukraine’s Svitolina has declined to do so with players from Russia and Belarus since the invasion of her homeland.
Svitolina said: “I just try to fight each time I play Dasha. She’s a tough opponent to face, and each time, I try to play just one extra ball over the net, to take and dictate the game. I’m really happy I won the match today.”
Through in some style 😎@ElinaSvitolina improves to 8-0 lifetime vs Kasatkina, prevailing 6-2, 6-2!#MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/nMRqKA2k2U
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) August 2, 2023
Elsewhere, at the Austrian Open, Dominic Thiem rallied from a set down to emerge victorious over Zhang Zhizhen 1-6 6-3 6-2 as he advanced to the quarter-final.
Hoping to win his first title since the US Open in September 2020, Thiem made a disastrous start on home soil but recovered well and looked in control from the second set.
“The first set was so tough, with completely different conditions to last night. I felt it was 15 degrees warmer and the ball was bouncing completely different. I didn’t know what was going on and it felt that he was playing so fast,” said former world No. 3 Thiem.
All HEART ❤️@domithiem comes from a set down to defeat Zhang 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 and reach the last eight on home soil!#GeneraliOpen pic.twitter.com/4vhun2KWZl
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 2, 2023
“I just tried to put the first set out of my head and start the match from zero. I had a pretty good start to the second set and that was the turnaround today.
“He was playing very fast, very flat, and if I wasn’t aggressive enough he would put me away, like he did in the first set. So I tried to play more offensively and make him have more mistakes. I did a good job of that in sets two and three.”
A resilient Alex de Minaur recovered from a break down twice in the second set of his Los Cabos Open round of 32 match to overcome Skander Mansouri 6-4 6-4.
The Australian required one hour and 45 minutes to claim his 180th tour-level win and set up a meeting with Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante.
