Tennis: Tiafoe, Michelsen advance to Cincinnati Open second round

Cincinnati, Aug 14 (IANS) Home favourite Frances Tiafoe put together a high-quality first-round display to down Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6(6) at the Cincinnati Open.

Tiafoe produced some moments of magic, particularly off his forehand wing, to improve to 9-2 in opening-round matches on hard courts this year.

With his win, Tiafoe improved to 2-0 in his ATP head-to-head series with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The 26-year-old’s next opponent in Ohio will be 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti or Nicolas Jarry.

He faced some early trouble in Cincinnati, falling behind 1-3 in the first set, but then won six straight games to take control against Davidovich Fokina.

Tiafoe was close to an easy win in the second set, with three match points in the 10th game. However, Davidovich Fokina held on and even had a chance to win the set in the tiebreak. But Tiafoe rallied, winning the last three points to secure a victory in one hour and 44 minutes.

Tiafoe's fellow American, Alex Michelsen, also faced tough competition in his first-round match but managed to secure a spot against top seed Jannik Sinner. The 19-year-old, who came through qualifying, won his Cincinnati main-draw debut by defeating Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.

Michelsen delivered 36 winners, including 10 aces, in his match against Griekspoor, as per ATP Stats. With this victory, his third at a Masters 1000 event this year, the American climbed six spots to a career-high No. 51 in the ATP Live Rankings.

He also solidified his position as second in the ATP Live Race to Jeddah, aiming for his second consecutive appearance at the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals.

Zhang Zhizhen, Sebastian Baez and Jiri Lehecka also booked their second-round spots on Tuesday.

Zhang overcame the big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-3, 7-6(4) to become the first Chinese main-draw match winner in tournament history. He will next take on Montreal finalist and sixth seed Andrey Rublev.

The World No. 20 Baez downed Marcos Giron 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6), while Lehecka triumphed 7-6(3), 6-3 against Mariano Navone in his first competitive match since he retired from his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final in Madrid in early May. The Czech will face fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in the second round.

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