Tiafoe Roars On In Antwerp

  • Posted: Oct 19, 2020

American Frances Tiafoe made a good start to his first hard-court tournament since the US Open on Monday, beating sixth seed Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 7-6(6) to reach the second round of the European Open in Antwerp.

In their second ATP Head2Head meeting (tied 1-1), World No. 63 Tiafoe needed to work hard to advance in straight sets. The 22-year-old saved two set points in the second set, including one on Lajovic’s serve, to triumph after one hour and 21 minutes.

Tiafoe is in good form, winning his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title in Parma, Italy earlier this month. The American took advantage of two forehand errors from the Serbian to save both set points he faced. The 2018 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com champion won 83 per cent of his first-serve points to move on in Belgium.

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Tiafoe is competing in Antwerp for the fourth consecutive year. Last year, he advanced to the quarter-finals before losing a tough three-setter against Jannik Sinner. Tiafoe will next play Brit Daniel Evans or Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso.

Ugo Humbert, who reached the semi-finals at the ATP 250 last year, defeated Belgian wild card Kimmer Coppejans 6-4, 6-3 in 73 minutes. The Frenchman, who is at a career-high World No. 38, saved all three break points he faced and only lost two first-serve points (24/26).

Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez also moved on with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against American Tommy Paul. The 39-year-old hit 13 aces and saved the only break point he faced.

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