American teen gets win, to face Federer in second round

KEY BISCAYNE — It was the way a player of his caliber was supposed to respond.

American Frances Tiafoe blew a three-game lead in the second set against Russia’s Konstantin Kravchuk in Thursday’s Miami Open action, but made sure to make quick work when it counted. Tiafoe closed strong to capture a 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 victory in the first round at Crandon Park Tennis Center.

It earned the rising star a matchup with fourth-seeded Roger Federer in the second round.

“I thought the match was pretty much one way until about the seventh break,” Tiafoe said. “I was up 4-1. Then it got pretty ugly there. I started rushing a bit. I started looking forward already. I started missing a lot of easy shots.”

Tiafoe was in position to defeat Kravchuk in two sets before collapsing. There was no letdown in the third set. He won the first four games on the way to a quick victory.

“I’m really happy the way I bounced back in the third,” Tiafoe said. “I played great in the third. I kept my momentum going and I kept a level head.”

Tiafoe, who turned pro in 2015, is among the group who are expected to become the face of the tennis in the next few years. Still, he continues to adjust to playing at a higher level. At 19, he is just a few months removed from his first victory in a Grand Slam match.

He is part of a fraternity that includes Michael Mmoh and Pembroke Pines’ Stefan Kozlov, who are considered the American stars of tomorrow.

“I think I’m playing at the level to be inside the top 50,” Tiafoe said. “That’s my main goal. I’m working real hard and focusing a lot on that.

As the youngest player in the top 100, Tiafoe will get to gauge how far he’s come against one of the sport’s legendary players. The sixth-ranked Federer has won 18 Grand Slams but hasn’t captured the title in Key Biscayne in 11 years. Last year he missed the tournament because of the flu.

Federer has already won the Australian Open and is coming off winning the Indian Wells championship last week in California.

“But I know how hard it is to win back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami titles,” Federer said recently. “That’s why again I sort of go to Miami knowing, like, it’s going to be really difficult. I don’t know the draw yet. As we know in Masters 1000s, draws are brutal early on already. There is no warming up and playing qualifiers ranked 250, sometimes, which even they are not easy to beat sometimes on any given day. And especially best of three sets, margins are small.”

Tiafoe, who entered the tournament as a qualifier, is just excited about receiving the opportunity to face one of the all-time greats. He said the possibility was partly blame for his breakdown in the second set because he was thinking ahead.

“It’s Roger Federer,” Tiafoe said. “This guy has about a million Grand Slams. He’s done everything. I can’t tell you how excited I am to play … He’s my idol, everyone’s idol. People still on tour, in the locker room, stare at him when he’s walking around … It’s going to be an honor but again, I’m going to definitely go after it and give it all I got.”

Tiafoe