Frances Tiafoe played Tallon Griekspoor in a must-win match for the US Davis Cup team, but he couldn't beat the Dutch player.
The American disappointed in his first match at the Davis Cup, failing to back up his words ahead of the clash against Croatia. He faced Borna Gojo and was beaten by the Croatian, who produced an incredible serving performance that carried him to the finish line.
He was a bit better in this one, and he needed to be because Tommy Paul was beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp in the first match, putting the US team in a tricky situation. They barely pulled out a win against Croatia thanks to their doubles team, but Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek won't get another chance this time.
Griekspoor gave Tiafoe plenty of problems early, hitting the ball really well. He's an exceptional hitter and plays really well indoors, so the 6-3 opening set going his way didn't surprise many.
Tiafoe fought back in the second set, which he generally tends to do after dropping a first set. It was a close one, as it ended in a tiebreak. Tiafoe actually didn't see a single break point in that set but managed to pull it out 9-7 in the tiebreak.
Griekspoor left some chances on the table in that second set and paid the price for it. The final set was another close one, even though the Dutch player jumped out to an early lead. Tiafoe fought back and held his serve to force a tiebreak.
It was a really close match as the court played really fast and both players were serving really well. The tiebreak essentially went Griekspoor's way, but he won on a point penalty for Tiafoe after he got a second code violation. The final score was 6-3 6-7(7) 7-6(3).
0 Comments