ATP Tour

Tiafoe returns to American hard courts with Atlanta win

In his first match since he fell just short in a five-set Wimbledon thriller against eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe returned to the American hard courts with a battling win Thursday at the Atlanta Open.

The third seed earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 result against Aslan Karatsev, bringing his strong from across the pond onto home soil. Tiafoe fired 18 aces — including one on match point — and saved three of four break points in the victory, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"I'm just trying to build on Wimbledon," said Tiafoe, who has recently started working with coach David Witt. "I was not having much fun with my tennis at all for a while there. I had a great time at Wimbledon, I played a great match there in the third round. I just kind of want to build on that and put on a show for you guys."

King Foe 👑🙌@FTiafoe aces for the win over Karatsev 6-4 3-6 6-3@ATLOpenTennis | #AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/0yST3GgfXh

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 25, 2024

Now 16-15 on the year, Tiafoe entered the U.S. hard-court summer with 30 wins last season, reaching a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 10 in June. He entered Atlanta at World No. 29 this week, with his best result of 2024 a final appearance in Houston.

Next up for the American will be Yoshihito Nishioka in Friday's quarter-finals. The Japanese star beat home favourite Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 5-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against the former college star at UCLA.

Fourth seed Jordan Thompson also advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 result against French lucky loser Harold Mayot. The Aussie will meet fifth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarters after the Spaniard's 7-5, 7-5 win against American Reilly Opelka.