Lorenzo Sonego of Italy beat 12th seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States 6-3 6-4 in what turned out to be a minor upset in the third round of the Miami Open on Monday. The match was over within a couple of hours, a temporary rain-delay notwithstanding.
The 27-year-old Sonego will face Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the fourth round on Tuesday. He will take heart from the way he defeated his more-fancied rival on Monday. On that note, we will take a look at how the match progressed:
How Lorenzo Sonego beat Frances Tiafoe at the Miami Open
Sonego served really well in the match:
Sonego served with a lot of firepower throughout the match and did not face a single break point in it. He won 91% and 82% of the points on his first and second serve, respectively. In comparison, Tiafoe could win only 40% of the points on his second serve in the match.
The American also helped Lorenzo Sonego by hitting a few of his groundstrokes long early on in the match. Sonego got the decisive break in the first set and then served out the set quite easily. The Italian rushed the net occasionally and usually managed to put Tiafoe on the back foot.
Tiafoe’s sluggish movement did not help his cause:
Tiafoe moved somewhat sluggishly in the match and often could not cover the court as well as he would have liked to. Sonego took advantage of it and was also helped by the net chord on a few occasions.
Sonego broke Tiafoe in the first game of the second set and then held his serve to go 2-0 up. The Italian never let that advantage slip thereafter and eased to a comfortable victory. There was a temporary rail-delay, but that did not stop the Italian from winning. Cerundolo should be wary of Sonego’s serve in their upcoming match and the Italian will probably start as the favorite.
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
