ATP Tour

Tiafoe bounces back in Stuttgart, Kyrgios wins return

Frances Tiafoe rebounded from his narrow Roland Garros defeat to Matteo Arnaldi on Tuesday at the BOSS OPEN, where he outlasted home hope Daniel Altmaier 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 to reach the second round at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart.

In Paris, Tiafoe was two points away from sealing a quarter-final spot before Arnaldi mounted a comeback to prevail in five sets. This time, the American closed out a tight contest against Altmaier to earn his first grass-court win of the season.

“First match on grass court is always tricky,” Tiafoe, the 2023 Stuttgart champion, said. “My first match since my tough match at Roland Garros. So it was nice to get a win [today].”

Tiafoe appeared on course for a straight-sets victory after taking an early break in the second set, but Altmaier rallied to force a decider. The American responded emphatically, secured the lone break of the third set in the fifth game and eventually sealed victory in two hours and 26 minutes. The sixth seed finished having saved seven of the nine break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With the triumph, the 28-year-old took a 4-0 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Altmaier was aiming to record his second Top 30 win of the season after upseting then-World No. 6 Ben Shelton at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open in May. Tiafoe will next face Rinky Hijikata, who rallied past German qualifier Tom Gentzsch 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes.

In other action, Nick Kyrgios won his first match since Brisbane in January. The Australian wild card, who had played just one match since last March in Miami, eliminated Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-4.

"It's quite emotional to be honest. I've had a lot of surgeries just to come back here and I felt the love from the get-go," Kyrgios said. "I'm so thrilled to be back and playing some high-level tennis as well."

Yannick Hanfmann and Jan-Lennard Struff were among the Germans who won their first-round matches Tuesday. Hanfmann defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6(5), 7-6(4). With the triumph, the 34-year-old recorded his first win on grass courts since winning his first-round match in Stuttgart two years ago. Struff outlasted Alexis Galarneau 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3. The 36-year-old will next meet third seed Alexander Bublik.

In other action, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard rallied to defeat Roman Safiullin 7-5, 6-7(4)-7, 7-6(4) after their opening-round match was suspended in the third set due to rain Monday. The Frenchman resumed play trailing 1-4 in the decider before completing the comeback to reach the second round. Marcos Giron defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(3), 7-5 and will next face top seed Ben Shelton.