Tiafoe ‘proud’ in defeat

The future in the person of Frances Tiafoe knocked, knocked, knocked at the door at the U.S. Open on Tuesday night under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the past and present kept it closed, at least for now, with Roger Federer prevailing in an opening round five-set thriller, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

Still, it is impossible to call the 19-year old American a loser in this one, even if that was the result. For Tiafoe carried the play through the first set and the fourth and set the tempo against perhaps the greatest player to have ever picked up a racket.

“I’m proud,” said Tiafoe, the world’s 70th-ranked player who played unafraid and with a jump in his step right from the start in taking it to Federer. “I’ll be thinking about this one for a while, and I will use this to try and get better.

“I always wanted to play the best in the world, and I hoped I would be ready for it and give my best stuff no matter who I was against.”

Tiafoe, now 6-19 for his career on hard courts, gave his best stuff. The College Park, Md., native stunned Federer with an aggressive, attack-oriented first set. And then when he seemed down and out after the second and third sets, he produced a brilliant fourth set to make it winner-take-all in the fifth.

Federer broke Tiafoe in the fourth game and served for the match at 5-3. But Tiafoe broke, only to go down on his next service game, f ighting off a third match point before hitting a return into the net.

“Obviously I’m not satisfied,” he said. “But to play that way gives me a good feeling.feeling.”