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Tiafoe roars into Hong Kong QFs

Ruusuvuori downs Khachanov
January 03, 2024
Extended Highlights: Tiafoe, Shang advance to Hong Kong 2024 QFs
Frances Tiafoe defeats Miomir Kecmanovic and Shang Juncheng beats Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday in Hong Kong. Watch live & on demand at TennisTV.com. Photo by Lampson Yip/Clicks Images.
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    Lampson Yip/Clicks Images
    Frances Tiafoe began a new partnership with coach Diego Moyano this offseason. By Alex Sharp

    A stellar line-up at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open made sure the packed crowd was entertained until the very end on Wednesday night.

    Emil Ruusuvuori overcame third seed Karen Khachanov, whilst third seed Frances Tiafoe embraced his new perspective to edge Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 7-6(4) at Victoria Park. Tiafoe, the No. 16 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, played with swagger, connecting with a series of hot shots to signal his return to form with a quarter-final spot.

    The American won a personal-best 40 tour-level matches last season, including titles in Houston and Stuttgart, but admitted he "plateaued big time" at the end of 2023. With a switch to coach Diego Moyano in the offseason, 'Big Foe' is back.

    "First match of the season, new coach, I thought I did a great job, played some great tennis," said the 25-year-old. "Miomir is great too, even better guy, so I'm happy with the performance, we pushed each other."

    Tiafoe opened up about his inner turmoil last season: "I think a lot of 2023 I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, it was really hard for me," he admitted. "I was very results-driven last year. Still had a great year, but it wasn't what I wanted to do in the big events. When I didn’t get what I wanted, I just folded it in at the end of the season, I struggled big time.

    "I'm going back to what I do best, having fun with it, compete at a high level and that really showed tonight. I played with a great level all the way though."

    Placing more trust in his game, Tiafoe has been focussing on his mindset and on-court aggression, adamant that he won't return to counterpunching ways when in trouble.

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    "I'm trying to make my presence known again, just being tough day in day out. Tonight was a promising start," declared a driven Tiafoe, who hit the practice court straight after his victory. "Those little things matter, brick by brick. Rome wasn't built in a day.

    "A lot of people were interested how I came into this year. I partied hard, had some really good rest time, now I feel good. I'm confident about what's going to happen this year.

    "I had a great offseason, trained hard, made some changes, but it's just perspective, being process-orientated. Because whether you do monumental things or not, the world still stays the same, there's always more to do, more to achieve. I'm very wary of that now."

    Tiafoe advances to meet the Chinese wild card Shang Juncheng in the last eight.

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    World No. 69 Ruusuvuori erased two previous defeats by Khachanov with a 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-2 triumph to earn a 12th career quarter-final.

    "It's the perfect start, two wins out of two to start the year, so I'm very happy," mused the Finn. "A lot of things to take home, positive and negative. I felt like I was matching him for the power, I had to pick when though. I had a letdown in the second set, but very pleased with how I turned it around again in the third with real quality."

    Ruusuvuori believes this result ranks up in his top tier of career wins, considering his previous Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the World No. 15. He will shoot for the semi-finals when he faces Pavel Kotov. The World No. 67 dispatched sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-3 under the lights on centre court for this third successive ATP Tour quarter-final.

     

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