Frances Tiafoe

Team World Finally Wins Laver Cup

September 27, 2022 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

Team World rallied to beat Team Europe 13-8 to win the Laver Cup for the first time after five attempts at the 02 Arena in London.

Team World trailed behind 8-4 after the first two days, but won three matches in a row in the last competition day on Sunday to dramatically win the wildly popular team event.

The Laver Cup, held from September 23 to 25, is a men’s tennis tournament played between players from Europe and players from the rest of the world. Each win secures one point on the opening day, two points on day two, and three points on the final matchday. The event was created by Roger Federer and his agent Tony Godsick.

On the final day, Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada paired up with America’s Jack Sock to defeat Italy’s Matteo Berrettini and British veteran Andy Murray 2-6, 6-3 and 10-8 in the doubles match. The 22-year-old then kept his momentum in the singles match, outplaying 21-time major champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Djokovic, 35, admitted that a problem with his right wrist had affected him during the match, but insisted that Aliassime deserved the win with his outstanding performance.

America’s Frances Tiafoe eventually sealed the overall victory for Team World as the 24-year-old came from behind to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 1-6, 7-6(11), 10-8.

Tiafoe, teaming up with Sock, defeated Federer and Rafael Nadal in the doubles match last Friday, and joked that he would not apologize to the Swiss legend as the 20-time Grand Slam winner not only ended his professional tour journey with a loss, but had no chance to lift the Laver Cup with Team Europe.

“He has got a lot to apologize for the last 24 years after beating everybody on the tour,” quipped Tiafoe.

Federer, 41, announced his retirement last week and decided to play his last pro match together with long-time rival and friend Nadal at the Laver Cup.

“Being on court on Friday and having such a huge moment in my career, being surrounded by my biggest rivals like Novak and Andy and Rafa was truly unique, and I can never thank them enough for being there and staying there and going through it with me,” said Federer.

Federer has promised he will be on site at the 2023 Laver Cup in Vancouver, Canada to cheer for both teams as a fan. ■

John Isner Comes Back From 0-2 Down To Beat Frances Tiafoe In Fifth-Set Tiebreaker

August 29, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

John Isner fought off a valiant effort from fellow American Frances Tiafoe, an 18-year old, to come back from two sets to love down, winning 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(2) in the first men’s match played on the new Grandstand Court at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center.

The No. 1 American got off to a more than lackluster start, getting broken at love by the No. 125 player in the world in his opening service game of the match. Even though Isner was able to get a break back later in the set, that first game set the tone for the first two sets as Tiafoe was clearly the better player and Isner had no answer for the young American, who was able to grab another break late in the first set to take a big step towards his first win at a major.

Tiafoe was able to breeze through the second set as he once again broke in Isner’s opening service game before saving the only break point he faced in the set a few games later. The 18-year old playing in just third match at a major was just one set away from earning what would be by far the biggest win of his career and he had the complete support of the crowd behind him.

“Just gotta stay with it…try to keep the match competitive,” said Isner of his strategy heading into a do or die third set.

Tiafoe was able to carry that momentum from the first two sets into the third, earning a break point in Isner’s opening service game again, but was unable to convert as Isner did exactly what he wanted to, keep the match competitive. Later at 2-2, Tiafoe had a look at two more break points, but again the veteran Isner was able to fend those off, and it looked like he had received his much needed wake-up call. From there, Isner was able to get his first real foothold in the match and force a tiebreak where he had to fight back from a 3-1 deficit to steal the third set and extend the match.

In the fourth set, Isner began to really assert himself on the court and was able to play his “big-man” style of tennis for the first time in the match. Dominating on serve, Isner began to apply more pressure on the Tiafoe serve, earning him two breaks and a comfortable 6-2 fourth set win.

It was clear from the first point of the fifth set that it would be up for grabs as both players looked to be at their peak levels of performance. Tiafoe regained his form from the first two sets while Isner was still riding the wave of momentum that had gotten him back even in the match. A few easy holds each way began the set before Tiafoe earned the first real opportunity to close out the match. With Isner serving at 3-4, Tiafoe was able to break and had the match on his racquet, serving at 5-3. Isner was up to the task, however, and quickly raced out to a 0-40 lead before breaking at 30-40 to get the set back on serve before eventually forcing a deciding set tiebreak.

“Just trying to play solid, try to play the right way. I think I played a pretty good game. I think I made every single return. From that point on…it gave me a lot of energy moving forward,” said Isner of his play to break Tiafoe when he served for the match.

Final set tiebreaks had not been Isner’s specialty in 2016 as he had lost six matches in these scenarios, but he was able to put that to the wayside and looked very comfortable. A mini-break in the first point of the tiebreak for Isner, combined with a few Tiafoe errors, including a double fault, allowed the 6’10” American to cruise to a 7-2 tiebreak win and close out the comeback.

Both Isner and Tiafoe were appreciative of the atmosphere that helped make the match as intense as it was.

“It was an absolute pleasure to play out here in front of you fans and an absolute pleasure to play against Frances. He’s a hell of a player and a class act,” said Isner.

“It was the best atmosphere I’ve ever played on in my life…it’s an unbelievable time I had playing tennis today…you guys made this match unbelievably fun for me,” added Tiafoe, who listened to chants of his name ring out throughout the course of the match.

“It hurts. It hurts a lot…but I can’t wait to come back next year and hopefully do damage,” continued a disappointed but hopeful Tiafoe.

Isner will take on Steve Darcis in the second round at the US Open in a section of the draw that completely opened up when Richard Gasquet was upset by Kyle Edmund in straight sets. A potential fourth round match with Novak Djokovic awaits the No. 1 ranked American.

The New Grandstand After John Isner Beat Frances Tiafoe

Bjorn Frantangelo Impresses Against Novak Djokovic – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

March 14, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

At No. 149 in the world, Bjorn Fratangelo became the lowest ranked player to take a set off of Novak Djokovic since No. 174 Nicolas Almagro, who was returning from injury at the time, won the second set in their meeting in Rome in May of 2015. The last time Djokovic lost a first set to a player outside of the Top 100 was when he dropped the first set to No. 158 Lleyton Hewitt in the 2012 Olympics.
18 year old Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe did battle in the first round in Indian Wells with Tiafoe wining in three sets. It was the first all-teen matchup in Indian Wells since Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori in 2008.
With Borna Coric and Alex Zverev reaching the third round in Indian Wells, it marks the first time since 2007 that multiple teenagers made the third round of the event. Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Evgeny Korolev were the players who did so.
For the first time since 2010 in Indian Wells, no German woman reached the third round of the event.
The No. 1 doubles seed in Indian Wells lost in the first round for the first time since 1998 as Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau lost to Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, 10-6 in a match tiebreak.
The final of the Jonkoping challenger lasted two hours and 44 minutes, making it the longest final on the challenger circuit in 2016. Andrey Golubev took home the title by beating Karen Khachanov, 6-7(9), 7-6(5), 7-6(4), saving four match points along the way. The four match points saved was the most in a challenger final since Tim Smyczek saved four in the Tiburon Challenger in 2015.
The challenger event in Santiago saw a 19-year age difference in the first round as 38 year old Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo took on 19 year old Christian Garin. Ramirez Hidalgo came out with the victory in three sets.
Facundo Bagnis became the first player to successfully defend a challenger title in 2016, winning the title in Santiago for the second straight year, also making it three titles in four tries in the Chilean capital.

Five American Teens Playing This Week In Memphis – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

February 8, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

Victor Estrella Burgos became just the seventh player on the ATP to win a title after turning 35 years old since 1980 as he won his second title in Quito in a row this week. Jaime Fillol, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Fabrice Santoro, Tommy Haas, and Ivo Karlovic were the previous six to do so.
Dustin Brown reached his first career ATP semifinal in Montpellier this week after going 0-8 in ATP quarterfinal matches to start off his career.
Paolo Lorenzi earned his first Top 20 win in a completed match in Quito this week after defeating Bernard Tomic. Lorenzi was previously 0-22 against Top 20 opponents.
In Memphis this week, five American teens are playing in an ATP main draw for the first time since the 2006 US Open. Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Taylor Fritz received wild cards and were joined by Michael Mmoh and Jared Donaldson via qualifying.
Alex Zverev became only the second player on the ATP this season to reach the semifinals of both the singles and doubles at the same event. In Montpellier, he made the semifinals in singles before losing to Paul-Henri Mathieu, while also making the final of the doubles event with his brother Mischz Zverev, losing out to Mate Pavic and Michael Venus. Benoit Paire was the previous player to make the semifinals of both the singles and doubles at the same event, doing so in Chennai in the first week of the year.
Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans played in only the second all-British challenger final, the first of which that took place outside of Great Britain. The previous all-British challenger final took place in Nottingham in 2005 with Alex Bogdanovic beating Mark Hilton. Edmund won the final with Evans in straight sets,
19 year old Blake Mott of Australia won his first challenger title this week after only having three previous challenger main draw wins and being ranked outside of the Top 700.
Taylor Fritz