Tiafoe makes strong start in Cincinnati, Michelsen progress

Frances Tiafoe began his hard court event in America on Tuesday afternoon at the Cincinnati Open with an emphatic victory.

The 26-year-old home favourite fought past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6(6) in one-hour, 44-minute in the opener to improve to 9-2 in opening-round matches on hard courts this year.

“I thought he played some pretty good points. Other than the return I had on my racquet, the other two he played some good points,” reflected Tiafoe when asked about his difficulties closing out the match. “He’s a Spaniard and they fight until the end, so I kind of knew that going in and wasn’t too surprised.

“Obviously, you want to get it done there. It’s a good first-round win for me. Quality player, been around for a while, and he wins a lot of matches out here on the Tour, so it was a good win.”

With this victory, Tiafoe’s record against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in their ATP head to head series is at 2-0.

The 26-year-old’s next opponent in Ohio is either Nicolas Jarry or Lorenzo Musetti, the 14th seed. Alex Michelsen, a native of Tiafoe’s nation, also defeated fierce opposition in the first round to secure a crucial matchup with top seed Jannik Sinner.

On Tuesday, Jiri Lehecka, Sebastian Baez, and Zhang Zhizhen also secured their spots in the second round. Zhang became the first Chinese winner of a main-draw match in the history of the competition when he defeated the big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-3, 7-6(4). Next up for him is sixth-seeded and Montreal finalist Andrey Rublev.

The 20th World Baez defeated Marcos Giron 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6), and Lehecka defeated Mariano Navone 7-6(3), 6-3 in his first match back since quitting his first-ever Masters 1000 semi-final in Madrid at the beginning of May. In the second round, the Czech will play Daniil Medvedev.