The U.S. Open is serving up another tasty night match on Sunday, as Frances Tiafoe takes on Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16. Both players are coming off entertaining five-setters in the third round.
This will be the first meeting between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe, a strange statistic since they are close enough to contemporaries. Both men pulled off impressive wins to earn their spots in the round of 16, but it was Tiafoe with an into-the-wee-hours-of-the-morning upset of No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev that was the bigger surprise.
The American used the energy of a raucous and enthusiastic crowd to wear Rublev down, and he finally closed it out 6-1 in the fifth. Auger-Aliassime picked off struggling Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round but as Auger-Aliassime is actually seeded higher, it can’t really be considered an upset.
This match is also scheduled for the night session, a fact that will undoubtedly give Tiafoe an important boost. The crowd will rally behind Tiafoe if he is playing well enough to give them a reason to do so. And based on his performance against Rublev, he’s not just playing “well enough” but he’s actually just playing well in general. Great, in fact, so far this fortnight.
Expect another thriller that is extremely high on the entertainment scale, with Tiafoe just pulling out the win.
Cheryl pick: Tiafoe in 4
Ricky pick: Tiafoe in 5
WWW?
I don’t like how Tiafoe acts on court so really hoping for FAA.
Foe in 4
Probably.
We will have to witness the shirtless wonder again.