Tiafoe wins 'game of inches' to advance in Dallas

Frances Tiafoe enjoys putting on a show and that is exactly what he did Monday evening at the Dallas Open.

The fifth seed dropped the second set to Japan’s Taro Daniel, but used the crowd’s energy to rally for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory in the first evening session of the newly upgraded ATP 500 event.

Daniel earned a break point at 1-0 in the deciding set and was unable to convert. That proved critical because Tiafoe broke in his next return game to flip the momentum of the match and triumph after one hour and 45 minutes.

“That was massive. Once I held there at 1-0 I opened up the shoulders again. I felt good. Tennis is a game of inches, man,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. “As soon as I held there I felt a big weight off my back and I was able to swing out.”

Starting strong 💯 @DALOpenTennis | #DALOpen pic.twitter.com/ZvRZJ0fa7b

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 4, 2025

There was plenty of buzz in the air at The Star, the world headquarters and practice facility of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

Tiafoe came out flying, winning 61 per cent of his return points in the opening set according to Infosys ATP Stats. He stepped well inside the baseline to knock down second-serve returns and was relentless within rallies.

Daniel raised his level in the second set, but was unable to surge to the finish line. Tiafoe converted four of his eight break points to earn a second-round clash against Brandon Nakashima or Yoshihito Nishioka.

“Overall pretty good first round. I let my foot off the gas a little bit there in the second and you give a guy an inch they take a mile on the Tour. But I was really happy with how I came out,” Tiafoe said. “I played really, really well in the first set. And sometimes when you play that well, you can only go down.”

In a battle of rising Americans, Ethan Quinn claimed his first ATP 500 victory. The 20-year-old eased past 18-year-old Trevor Svajda 6-4, 6-2.

Last week, Quinn reached a career-high No. 160 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The former University of Georgia star won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in November.

His longtime coach is Brad Stine, who travels with Tommy Paul. If Paul defeats Jenson Brooksby in the first round, the third seed will take on Quinn, a qualifier, for a place in the quarter-finals.

In other Monday action, two American qualifiers were unable to advance in the main draw. Eighth seed Matteo Arnaldi ousted American qualifier Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 6-4 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina eliminated American qualifier Brandon Holt 6-1, 7-5. Australian Rinky Hijikata defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-3.