(Tennis news) In order to advance to the fourth round, where Rinky Hijikata was waiting for him, Tiafoe defeated Learner Tien, Sebastian Ofner, and Adrian Mannarino. Although they were tied for approximately half of the first set, the American pulled away as he won the final three games to win the match.
Tiafoe easily won the second set after dropping just one point to do so. The third set between the two got off to a solid start, but towards the finish, it turned into a break fest. The American gained the upper hand to win 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 as neither player was able to hold serve for the final five games.
Shelton advanced against Aslan Karatsev, Dominic Thiem, and Pedro Cachin to face Tommy Paul in the fourth round. The 20-year-old turned around a 3-0 deficit to win the opening set.
Shelton won the second set as well, further solidifying his hold on the match. He appeared to be headed for a straightforward victory in the third set when he led 4-1, but Paul ripped off the next five games to win it.
For the majority of the third set, the two stayed strong on serve. Paul served to stay in the game at 5-4, but Shelton broke his serve and went on to win the game 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Head-to-Head
Their head-to-head record currently reads 0-0 because this will be their first matchup.
Predictions
Shelton overcame a setback in the third to get to the quarterfinals of his second Major in his first full season on the ATP tour. Although his double fault total was slightly higher than average at nine, he had 16 aces in the previous round. Unforced errors as a whole outnumbered the 20-year-old’s victories as well.
Through his first four matches, Tiafoe has quietly progressed through the draw, losing just one set. Up until the conclusion of the game, when he was unable to hold serve, he played Hijikata pretty effectively. In addition to winning 83% of his first serve points, the American rained down 15 aces.
Shelton lost the third set because he experimented with different strategies against Paul rather than sticking to what was working. The majority of the time, his varied net methods didn’t produce a positive result. In order to get back on track, he toned down the shenanigans in the fourth set.
Large servers who enjoy taking control of the points from the baseline, Tiafoe and Shelton are both. The former has previously advanced to a Major semifinal, while the latter might be feeling a little anxious as he attempts to do so. They both have great shot-making ability, but due to his prior success, the world number 10 is likely to move higher.
Frances Tiafoe to win in 4 sets.
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