Tiafoe KO’d in Round 1
Evans rallies to bounce defending champion; Isner wins in straight sets
DELRAY BEACH — Just one round in, we know there will be a new Delray Beach Open champion.
Frances Tiafoe, the second-ranked American and world No. 29 who won his first ATP title in Delray a year ago, lost his opening-round match to Daniel Evans 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on a windy Tuesday night at Delray Beach Tennis Center.
Tiafoe, 21, had his serve broken three times in the third set. Leading 4-1, Evans won four consecutive games to take a 5-4 advantage before Tiafoe, on the ropes, broke Evans’ serve to knot it back up, 5-5. Evans, the 28-year-old British, then won the ensuing two games, breaking Tiafoe and finally serving for the victory.
Tiafoe lost match point when he hit a shot from up close into the net. Visibly frustrated, the tournament’s No. 2 seed was left slamming his racket on the stadium court’s hard surface after shaking hands with Evans.
“Very frustrating, very frustrating,” Tiafoe said. “I knew it was going to be tough, but I definitely shouldn’t have lost tonight. I probably rushed on big points.
“Definitely wasn’t expecting this, especially when I was winning by so much. It is what it is. Got to keep going, got to keep grinding.”
Evans, who only got into the main draw by winning a qualifying draw, will face Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the second round after the big upset in front of a packed night crowd that had the Delray Beach Tennis Center expand capacity by 500 extra seats in the grandstand for Tiafoe and world No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro’s match against Yoshihito Nishioka that followed.
“I just stayed out there, tried to get the job done,” Evans said. “To be honest, I don’t think about the rankings. His level’s so good. It’s great to come through at any level, especially in these tournaments.”
Evans reached the third by dominating a second-set tiebreaker. The two got to it after each held serve for the first 10 games in the second before breaking each other for their sixth game —Evans first and then Tiafoe. Tiafoe, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, dominated early, up 5-0 in the first set before winning it 6-3.
Isner responds
After playing deep into last week’s New York Open and then traveling to South Florida and playing in its heat and humidity for the first time this year, top American John Isner was showing signs of fatigue during the second set of his first-round
match.
With Canada’s Peter Polansky challenging him into a tiebreaker, Isner wouldn’t let it go to a third.
The hard-serving 6-foot-10 Isner, who took a late wild card into the tournament, fired off the last of his 23 aces with a 135-mph serve to clinch the 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory on Tuesday night at Delray Beach Tennis Center.
“First match out in heat and humidity is always tough, but I guess I’m glad it was a little breezy. It didn’t make it seem so hot out there,” said Isner, the tournament’s No. 2 seed and world No. 9 in the ATP Rankings. “I think that just comes from the prior tournament, travel, whatnot. I do think I’ll be much better physically in my next match.”
After a long rally during the tight second set, Isner was seen winded, resting with his hands on his knees. He survived four break points in the tight second set and overcame four double faults in one game.
Isner will play Lukas Lacko of Slovakia in the second round.
Opelka maintains momentum
After winning the New York Open over the weekend — and defeating Isner in the semifinal to do so — another American giant, the 6-foot-11 Reilly Opelka, won his opening match at the Delray Beach Open on Tuesday.
Opelka cruised past Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-0 to advance to a potential showdown with tournament top overall seed Juan Martin del Potro.
Opelka, the 21-year-old who lives in Palm Beach County and is now world No. 56 after his New York Open title wants to be part of an upswing for American tennis he feels never went away.
“I think it’s always been good,” Opelka said. “We have a great generation coming, and I think current guys and guys that have been on tour don’t get enough credit.”
Early Tuesday, another top American, No. 4 seed Steve Johnson, defeated Jason Jung 7-6 (3), 6-4 as Jung was coming off a win over Tiafoe in the New York Open. Johnson faces Paolo Lorenzi of Italy in the second round.