Working late didn’t bother Frances Tiafoe, who upset No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev in a 3-hour, 46-minute match that began on Friday and ended at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time Saturday. That was tied for the fifth-latest finish in U.S. Open history.
Tiafoe, who grew up playing at the Maryland tennis center where his father was the head of maintenance, served five of his 24 aces in the final set of his 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1 victory over Rublev. He Tiafoe also hit 15 winners in the fifth set, compared with four by Rublev.
Tiafoe, ranked 50th in the world, advanced to the fourth round for the second straight year. “I love these matches. This is why you work,” he said during an on-court interview after the match. “This is why you put the time in, to play the best guys in the world. These are the matches I get up for. I want [to beat] these guys. I want to put it on my resume.”
He credited the lively crowd that remained at Arthur Ashe Stadium for giving him strength. “You guys are the reason I got it done tonight. It was definitely tricky,” he said. “You guys stuck with me all the way through … you did it.”
Not so many hours after Tiafoe’s match ended, No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada got Saturday’s program started with a near-flawless 6-1, 6-2 victory over Greet Minnen of Belgium at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Andreescu has been slowed by injuries since she won the 2019 U.S. Open women’s title but has looked solid here so far. “I think I played really well today. It’s what I’ve been working towards,” she said. “To get it done in two, probably one of my best matches.”
Andreescu’s fourth-round opponent will be No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, who upset No. 10 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3. “Petra is one of the toughest players on the tour. She’s a great champion,” Sakkari said. “Playing in front of this crowd was incredible.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.