American Tiafoe thrilled with Delray win over del Potro

[February 23, 2018]  Frances Tiafoe may have seemed an unlikely candidate to be one of the carriers of U.S. tennis into the Delray Beach Open quarterfinals since he was facing world No. 10 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina on Thursday.

However, the 91st-ranked player in the world from Hyattsville, Md., dispatched second-seeded del Potro in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-5, one of four Americans to get through.

Tiafoe, 20, won his match with power, serving 17 aces to del Potro's 13 and by winning 70 percent of his first-serve points. It is the second straight event in which Tiafoe has reached the quarters after he did so at the New York Open.

"It's unbelievable, definitely," Tiafoe told reporters after the match. "Two weeks in a row in the quarters.

"I really wanted that win to make a statement. I've had a ton of tough losses against top guys. Just wanted to get over the line."

Next up for Tiafoe is South Korea's Hyeon Chung, ranked 30th in the world and seeded eighth. Chung, who eliminated Franko Skugor of Croatia 6-4, 7-6 (4), to become the only seeded player to reach the quarterfinals.

Denis Shapovalov of Canada beat American Jared Donaldson, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4.

"I definitely picked up my serve in the second and third set ... It was a really even match," Shapovalov said. "We were both playing extremely well.

 

"I've been in this position before. Last year I was coming up with a lot of W's in late third sets, but it's definitely a big confidence-booster for me. I'm starting to get a little bit of momentum, getting a lot of matches under my belt, so I'm happy."

Shapovalov will face American Taylor Fritz in the quarters. Fritz was a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny on Thursday.

"There were a lot of times in the match where I was down and he had break points, and it could have really gone either way, and I came up in those moments in the match and that really made the difference," Fritz said.

The other quarterfinal matchups are Germany's Peter Gojowczyk against American Reilly Opelka, and Russia's Evgeny Donskoy vs. American Steve Johnson.

--Field Level Media

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