After a two-hour rain delay, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka defeated American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (2), 6-2 in Friday’s quarterfinal match at the Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station.
Tiafoe, the last remaining American in the tournament, was ranked third. Going into Friday’s match, Tiafoe was undefeated against Nishioka in head-to-head at 3-0, with the last meeting between the two occurring in Acapulco, Mexico last year.
Friday’s match started with Tiafoe having three aces in the first game of the match, securing that first game. But Nishioka quickly followed up with some stellar play himself, winning the next game in which he controlled serve. Tiafoe became a fan favorite quickly, as the crowd would applaud whenever he scored, especially on his aces, which he finished with 11. However, Tiafoe couldn’t quite crack the code on returning Nishioka’s serves in the first set as Tiafoe would often either hit the ball out of bounds or couldn’t get to the spot at all.
The first set’s competitiveness was emphasized by going to a tiebreaker. When Tiafoe fell to 4-0 in the tiebreaker, the crowd rose to their feet so that he could gain some momentum. But alas, Tiafoe lost the tiebreak, as it seemed he ran out of gas in that game. Nishioka did not let up as he was full throttle down the stretch.
“He [Tiafoe] has a very serious service game. I think it was, like 80 percent or 70 percent for service, so I couldn’t do anything on service game, but even my service game also looked great. I knew the tiebreaker was coming in the first set,” Nishioka said.
Credit: Ginny Duffy
At game’s end, Nishioka had higher first serve percentage, win percentage on first serve and win percentage on second serve than Tiafoe, despite having fewer aces than Tiafoe.
The second set started out bizarrely as Tiafoe took a one-point penalty for being late to the start of the set, which the announcer called “late to the facility.” Though only one point, Tiafoe looked to have lacked energy and enthusiasm in that first game. Tiafoe eventually became down 3-0 in the set with Nishioka having great ball placement and his aces served at top speeds. Though some things started to click for Tiafoe with some aces of his own, nothing bothered Nishioka as it went to 4-1. Despite Tiafoe being down the whole second set, the crowd never left. Tiafoe’s serves became stronger, and he expressed more energy than earlier in the set. But Nishioka’s aces kept coming and Tiafoe couldn’t chase them down.
“There is some confidence. Everyone’s different and I’ll have to adjust for each day or so, so it’s different,” Nishioka said, on whether he gained some confidence as he advanced on Friday night. “I was really tired from grass season, but now I think I have a little bit of confidence also because I can play more aggressive on hardcourt. So yeah, I think confidence makes the difference.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Entering this tournament, Tiafoe had struggled this year having battled injuries and facing top-tier competition in later rounds. The 26-year-old has yet to win a singles title this year.
With the top-three players in the tournament eliminated, a surprise could be crowned champion in the Atlanta Open.
Nishioka also has not yet won a singles title this year.
“I think everyone’s great. That teenager Shang Juncheng is also great. The field is still pretty dangerous,” Nishioka said. “So you know, everyone I think has a chance to win this tournament. Hopefully I’m going to take it, but I’m just going to try my best.”
Shang also won his quarterfinal Friday, beating Max Purcell 7-6, 6-4. Jordan Thompson defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. Arthur Rinderknech and Mattia Bellucci played in a late match, pushed back due to the rain delay.
Credit: Ginny Duffy
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