Tennis: Tiafoe beats Galan in Washington three-setter

Washington, July 31
Frances Tiafoe made a second-set turnaround to avoid an upset at the DC Open, where he defeated Daniel Elahi Galan 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3 in three setter.

Tiafoe earned a key break at 3-3 in the second set, when Galan missed an easy forehand putaway in the net to end a back-and-forth 12-ball rally on Tuesday night. It was a crushing blow for the Colombian, who despite the loss, struck 22 aces, according to ATP Stats.

The fifth seed won 82 per cent (45/55) of his first-serve points and hammered 14 aces in humid conditions to advance.

"I was happy I stayed with it. Early in the second, I was a little sloppy. I was pretty pissed I lost that first set. I kept holding it out, found a little spark there from midway in the second set to the end where I thought I played really well. The biggest thing was that I served great, a bunch of aces, a lot of free points. That helped me a lot," said Tiafoe.

Up next for Tiafoe will be 11th seed Roberto Carballes Baena or Aleksandar Kovacevic, who was one of five Americans to advance Tuesday. Kovacevic defeated Atlanta champion Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In other actions, fourth seed Sebastian Korda raced past Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-2 while 13th seed Brandon Nakashima downed Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 6-2. Mitchell Krueger advanced after Luca Nardi retired with the American leading 7-6(3), 4-1.