Tiafoe Puts On A Show In Dallas

After a long wait following his third-round exit at the Australian Open, Frances Tiafoe made the most of his first match since Melbourne with a dominant display Wednesday night at the Dallas Open.

The second-seeded Tiafoe blitzed past countryman Mackenzie McDonald 6-1, 6-3 in just 58 minutes to advance the the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event. In a clean performance worthy of his current career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 14, Tiafoe hit 15 winners and only five unforced errors.

“I played really well today,” said Tiafoe, who saved the lone break point he faced. “I haven’t played in a couple of weeks and I’m really determined. I had a short Australian Open. I wanted a much better Australian Open, so I’m definitely coming in here hungry and I’m just happy I was able to put on a good show for you guys.”

This was the third time Tiafoe played McDonald in Texas. Tiafoe also won on the clay of Houston in 2018, while McDonald earned the win in Dallas at a 2018 ATP Challenger Tour event.

Wednesday was also a big day for Tiafoe off the tennis court, as he was named to the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game next weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

“I was nervous today because I played more basketball the past two weeks than I have tennis, getting ready for the All-Star game,” he joked.

In the Dallas quarters, Tiafoe will face sixth seed J.J. Wolf, a 6-3, 7-6(5) winner against Radu Albot earlier on the stadium court.

Wednesday’s play also rounded out the first round at the ATP 250, with Oscar Otte, Daniel Altmaier and Emilio Gomez advancing to the last 16.