Frances Tiafoe defeated Alexei Popyrin to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open
Frances Tiafoe (USA) defeated Alexei Popyrin (Australia) by 3-1 (6:4, 7:6, 2:6, 6:3) and for the third year in a row qualified for the quarterfinals of the US Open, where he will compete with the best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov. The winner of the match will play in the semi-finals against Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz.
Alexei Popyrin pulled off the big surprise in the third round by knocking Novak Djokovic out of the tournament. The Australian tennis player strung together 24 hours against Frances Tiafoe, but even that was not enough for the ultimate success.
“Since I was a child, I dreamed of playing on this court. I watched the Williams sisters win titles, and how Federer won match after match. Arthur Ashe is an iconic place and here I show my best”, said Frances Tiafoe after the victory.
The 20th-seeded American showed skills and nerves against Ben Shelton in a five-set drama a few days ago and today needed just over three hours to break Alexei Popyrin’s resistance and secure a fourth Grand Slam quarter-final.
Alexei Popyrin missed two break points in the fourth game of the opening set and Tiafoe took advantage of her only chance at 4:4 to take the lead. In the second set, Alexei Popyrin led 5:2, and a little later he wasted three consecutive set points on his serve. Thus it came to a tiebreak in which Tiafoe was much more relaxed and brought the crowd to its feet.
Despite the disappointment, the Australian did not give up. The Montreal champion made an early break in the third set and won it convincingly, keeping his chances of a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final alive.
The fourth set was tied at 3:2 when Frances Tiafoe broke through. After that, the American had no problem closing out the match and delighting the fans in New York.
Grigor Dimitrov last played with Frances Tiafoe in last year’s Wimbledon and eliminated him in three sets. The overall balance of their 4 matches so far is 3:1 wins in favor of the Bulgarian player.
“It is clear that Grigor Dimitrov is very talented. He is one of the most gifted players for many years. Recently, Grigor has found his best form and is playing great. There is no doubt that the upcoming match will be extremely difficult. He masters all the shots. We’ll both do our best. I hope you’ll support me again”, Tiafoe said Frances Tiafoe.
