Tiafoe edges Evans in Almaty Open thriller as wildcard Zhukayev also makes quarterfinals

Ravi Ubha

Frances Tiafoe expected a battle against familiar foe Dan Evans at the Almaty Open and the top seed got one.

But the American also got the win in his first match since a frustrating end to his Shanghai Masters campaign.

When Tiafoe prevailed 6-7 (10) 7-6 (4) 6-3 against Evans — the injury-hit veteran who had to go through qualifying — it also marked just the second victory this week for a player after dropping the opening set.

And what a set of tennis the opener was at the Almaty Arena.

The duo often embarked on backhand-to-backhand exchanges, with Tiafoe driving but not going for too much and his 180th-ranked foe engineering his trademark slice. No break points surfaced in the first set of the night session clash.

Evans saved the first two set points in the tiebreak,  ripping a forehand return down the line on one when it seemed as if he lacked time.

A backhand pass down the line on his fourth set point gave the 34-year-old a one-set lead. He thus drew closer to a first quarterfinal since Washington last year, when he ousted Tiafoe and won the title.

Tiafoe applied more pressure on the Evans serve in the second, though the former No. 21 demonstrated his ample grit — he won the longest match in US Open history against Karen Khachanov in five and a half hours — by saving break points in two different games.

In what proved to be the likely turning point, Tiafoe then saved a break point at 4-4 when Evans’ backhand passing shot attempt with time flew long.

The twice US Open semifinalist quickly built a 4-0 lead in the third and it was enough padding to progress.

«I started coming to the net more and taking a bit more risk instead of just being patient in the rallies,» said the 15th-ranked Tiafoe, who next meets Aleksandar Vukic. «With Dan, he’s not 180 in the world. He’s been around for a while. To play him (first match) of a 250 late in the year is not easy.

«That was tough.»

Tiafoe and Khachanov played a memorable tiebreak at the 2023 Australian Open.

Tiebreaks for Khachanov too

Tiafoe led 6-1 in a fourth-set tiebreak only to see Khachanov rally for 11-9 and wrap up proceedings.

Earlier on Thursday, Khachanov needed two tiebreaks to advance — 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3) — against Finland’s Otto Virtanen.

He began the second-set decider by prevailing in a lung busting 26-shot rally in which he defended throughout.

There were no breaks in the first set but the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist like Tiafoe broke through against the big server early in the second.

Like Francisco Cerundolo and Roman Safiullin earlier in the week, though, Khachanov couldn’t serve out the affair. Fortunately for the third seed, he didn’t pay the ultimate price.

«He had already one match in the pocket,» said Khachanov, who had a bye in the first round. «For me it’s my first match. So I’m quite happy with my performance today.»

Machac retires

Khachanov’s quarterfinal opponent, home wildcard Beibit Zhukayev, didn’t need to spend much time on centre court to begin play.

He reached a maiden ATP quarterfinal when the in-form Tomas Machac retired due to illness trailing 3-1 in the first.

Zhukayev is set to return to the Top 200 and will eclipse his career high of 171 achieved in May if he upsets Khachanov but Khachanov downed Zhukayev last year in Shanghai.

Following Thursday’s play, a new winner at Kazakhstan’s lone ATP 250 is guaranteed since eighth seed Adrian Mannarino — last year’s champion in Astana — lost to Vukic 7-6 (4) 6-3.

The match unfolded in similar fashion to Khachanov’s win.

A dismayed Mannarino gently flung his racquet to the court when he fell behind 6-4 in the tiebreak and there was more frustration when he missed a return on break point at 3-4 in the second.

The 85th-ranked Australian broke again to seal passage to the last eight.

He also upended Mannarino on hard courts in the US in August.

«Kept pushing through some tough periods in the match,»   said Vukic, now an impressive 9-5 in his last 14 matches against higher-ranked opposition.

General Partner
Emirates. Fly better