Erste Bank Open Vienna: Frances Tiafoe in a frenzy! Comeback victory against top seeded Tsitsipas
Thanks to a strong performance and great fighting spirit, Frances Tiafoe caused the surprise at the Erste Bank Open and took out number 1 in Vienna with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Oct 28, 2021, 10:49 pm
When Frances meets Tiafoe, then he meets - and is wonderful to watch: Stefanos Tsitsipas also had to convince himself of that on Thursday evening. He had delivered a strong first set, but then the American increased immensely - 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 it was the end of the world ranking 49. against number 3 in the world.
It is the second time this year that Tiafoe surprised against Tsitsipas, having already won at Wimbledon.
"I like this match-up, my game goes well with his. But he's one of the best players in the world," said Tiafoe following his well-deserved win.
Tiafoe turns the match after 3-0 in the third set
Tiafoe only managed two winning strokes in the first set, in the second round he reduced his unforced mistakes, he only made one - and that with consistently aggressive play. In the third round, Tiafoe was already 3-0 down, but stayed on and equalized. At 3: 3 the decisive break, Tsitsipas made a double fault on breakball against himself. And in the end: Tiafoe pulled the thing through with nerves.
Tiafoe wins 71 percent of his second serves
The numbers: 26 winning strokes for both, but Tiafoe only made 14 mistakes without hardship. What underlines the level of the game: Even Tsitsipas only made 14 unforced errors. The Greek got 11 aces (Tiafoe: 3); But Tiafoe won a strong 71 percent of his points on the second serve!
Tiafoe will now face Diego Schwartzman, who won against Gael Monfils in the afternoon.
In the evening, Alexander Zverev also made it to the quarter-finals , against Alex de Minaur he had to go over three sets.
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