ATP Tour

Atmane gains Tiafoe revenge, breaks home hearts in Washington opener

Terence Atmane has finally solved the Frances Tiafoe riddle, and he did so in dramatic fashion on Monday when he stunned the home hero in the opening round at the Mubadala DC Open.

Tiafoe had beaten Atmane three times already this year, including in the first round at Wimbledon just four weeks ago. But World No. 56 Atmane flipped the script this time, fighting back for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory to earn his first win against the American. With the victory, Atmane improved to 1-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

"I enjoyed it so much," Atmane said. "Playing Frances is always a tough battle. But tonight the score was a bit different because I had lost to him four times already this year, so the fourth time was my charm. I took my chances when I had to and that made the difference tonight."

After dropping the opening set, Atmane raised his intensity to claim the second set before producing a stunning display in the decider as Tiafoe appeared to lose his rhythm behind serve. The Frenchman crucially broke Tiafoe’s serve to love at 4-4 in the third set and eventually sealed the win in two hours and four minutes.

The Frenchman arrived in Washington having won just one of his previous eight tour-level matches, with that lone victory coming against Martin Landaluce in the first round in Halle.

With his triumph against the sixth-seeded Tiafoe on Monday, Atmane improved to 2-6 against Top 20 opponents in 2026. The Frenchman’s first Top-20 victory this season came against World No. 8 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March.

Tiafoe, the No. 19 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, was playing his first match since a third-round loss to Alexander Bublik at Wimbledon. The Maryland native had reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the previous four editions in Washington, highlighted by a career-best semi-final run in 2024.

Up next for Atmane at the ATP 500 event is a second-round clash with Alejandro Tabilo, who earlier in the day outlasted Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4.

In other action on Monday in Washington, Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic eased past American Zachary Svajda 6-3, 6-1 in just 50 minutes. Earlier in July, Vukic clinched the crown at the hard-court ATP Challenger Event in Granby.