Tennis – Tiafoe beats fellow American Kovacevic at the US Open | WSAU News/Talk 550 AM · 99.9 FM

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Frances Tiafoe defeated fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the US Open on Monday.

Tiafoe, seeded 20th, held his nerve under increasing pressure and will be looking to move on to fulfil his promise of winning his home Grand Slam, having made a name for himself with his brilliant run to the semi-finals two years ago.

Kovacevic, a New York native making his US Open debut, looked a little nervous serving in the 10th game of the opening match, which Tiafoe took full advantage of by jumping high in the air, hitting an overhead ball and securing the first set.

In the second set, Tiafoe smashed a serve return to make it 4-2 and took a 2-0 lead when Kovacevic’s one-handed backhand flew too wide.

Kovacevic came to life in the third set, hitting a sensational forehand winner around the net in the fourth game to earn some of the support of the pro-Tiafoe crowd and breaking at love for a second time to force a fourth set.

But Tiafoe did not let that deter him, took a 6-5 lead in the fourth set with a break and converted his fifth match point to win.

Thunderstorms forced the closure of the roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium, and Tiafoe said the changing conditions had a major impact.

“It got pretty tough at the end,” Tiafoe said.

“When they closed the roof, it was really humid in here. I had real trouble breathing in the middle of the third and most of the fourth quarter.

“I was feeling much better at the end of the fourth run and tried everything to finish fourth. But tonight the conditions were definitely tough and humid.”

Tiafoe has struggled to get going and win this season, but he has looked better recently and reached the final of the Cincinnati Open last week, moving back into the top 20.

“Cincinnati was such a great week, I’m just trying to draw strength from it,” he said.

Tiafoe’s next match is a second round match against Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)