Frances Tiafoe struggled at first as he tried to understand Adrian Mannarino’s clever play, but he eventually figured out the puzzle to secure his spot in the US Open’s round of 16.
Given that Mannarino is never an easy opponent to play, Tiafoe saw this as an opportunity to put his skills to the test. He ultimately finished it by defeating Mannarino on Arthur Ashe by scores of 4-6 6-2 6-3 and 7-6 (8-6).
Tiafoe talked after the two-hour and 57-minute contest and stated: “He is so annoying to play. He’s just bunting the ball around, it’s so slow. You look at him like, ‘Man, what is he doing?’ But it is so effective, the ball stays so low.”
He further added: “He makes you create and makes you want to feel like you have to overplay. He defends really well, so he is super tough and obviously has a great lefty serve. I’m happy the match is over and I won. He is super annoying to play.”
Tiafoe at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2023
At the moment ranked no.10 (career-high), Frances has managed to achieve a composed 36-14 match record in 2023. Frances is playing at the U.S. Open where he overcame the world no.700 Learner Tien 6-2 7-5 6-1, the world no.58 Sebastian Ofner 6-3 6-1 6-4 and the world no.35 Adrian Mannarino 4-6 6-2 6-3 7-66.
Frances Tiafoe will face the world no.110 Rinky Hijikata in the 4th round. In the past, they have never played each other as of now on the main tour.
The American conquered 3 titles in 2023 in Australia, Houston and Stuttgart.
The American won 4 titles in his career: 2 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Adrian Mannarino in 2023
Currently ranked no.35, Mannarino played his last match on the 1st of September when he lost to world no.10 Francis Tiafoe 4-6 6-2 6-3 7-6(6) in the 3rd round of the U.S. Open (draw).
At present, during this year Mannarino has a compiled 31-25 match record. Mannarino conquered 1 title in Newport. The French player reached the final in Mallorca.
Frances Tiafoe and Adrian Mannarino played each other 3 times. Their actual record is 2-1 for Tiafoe. The last time they played, Frances Tiafoe won 4-6 6-2 6-3 7-6(6) in the 3rd round in New York (U.S. Open) on the 1st of September 2023.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
Frances Tiafoe and Adrian Mannarino |
Embed from Getty Images |