Tiafoe captures first title, defeating Gojowczyk in final
DELRAY BEACH — When it came time to sign up for the Delray Beach Open, Frances Tiafoe completely forgot about it.
Luckily, he received a last-minute wild-card invitation from tournament director Mark Baron. Tiafoe took full advantage of the second chance by cruising through the week and capturing the championship Sunday. He defeated Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk, 6-1, 6-4, in the final. It was the first ATP Tour title of his career.
He made the decision to play in the event two weeks ago.
“As soon as the week before New York [Open], I was like, ‘I’m playing pretty good,’ ” Tiafoe said. I was like, ‘I’d love to play Delray.’ ”
Tiafoe, 20, needed just 62 minutes to knock off Gojowczyk. He had ace serves on his final two points and dropped to the ground after victory was clinched. Once back on his feet, he raised both arms to the crowd in celebration.
“I was not expecting this, this week,” Tiafoe said. “It’s an amazing feeling. I just hope I get many more.”
The end was disappointing for Gojowczyk, who was going for his second title. It also ended his string of eight consecutive victories against American players. After a strong week, Gojowczyk was affected by a left thigh injury he sustained in the semifinals against Steve Johnson.
The pain was so severe he contemplated pulling out of the match. Last year, Milos Raonic withdrew from tournament hours before the final. Instead, Gojowczyk played through it and a bandage was placed around the thigh during intermission between the first and second sets.
“You want to play in the finals,” Gojowczyk said. “You want to [play] your best tennis in the finals. Today was not my day.”
The victory capped an eventful week for Tiafoe, who was coming off an appearance in the quarterfinals of the New York Open. Tiafoe, who is first the wild card to win the Delray title, defeated No. 2 seed Juan Martin del Potro and No. 8 Chung Hyeon in the second round and quarterfinals.
“I was like even if I lose, it was a great week,” Tiafoe said. “I beat quality players this week. I really had nothing to lose.”
The match against Hyeon was suspended Friday night and completed Saturday afternoon. It meant Tiafoe had to compete twice in the same day but it had no effect. He cruised past rising star Denis Shapovalov, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals.
Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, took a different path to the tennis circuit. His father worked two jobs, including one as a maintenance man, just so he could afford the costly tennis lifestyle. Despite the adversity, he developed into one of the nation’s top junior players before turning pro in 2015.
“Being in a position to not only help myself but my family … it’s an unbelievable place to be,” Tiafoe said. “It’s bigger than tennis.”
Sock gets redemption
After losing in the singles bracket, top-seeded Jack Sock somewhat made up for it by teaming with Jackson Withrow to win the doubles championship. They defeated Nicholas Monroe and John Patrick Smith, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8, Sunday.
“Singles is my career,” said Sock, who lost to Reilly Opelka in the second round. “I like to play doubles for fun. Anytime you’re winning matches, it gives you confidence. Probably since Wimbledon, people wanted to call me a doubles specialist. I was 20 in the world in singles and top 10 in doubles and people thought I was terrible at singles. Singles has always been my goal. That’s been my career.”