Third seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States beat Marton Fucsovics 6-3 7-6 in the semifinal of the BOSS Open in Stuttgart on Saturday. The match lasted for almost two hours, as the 25-year-old American got home comfortably in the end.
The American has a great chance to end his trophy drought on Sunday.
An erratic Fucsovics overpressed to commit a lot of errors in the first set:
Fucsovics was quite erratic and faltered often in the first set while trying to put too much power behind his forehand. He ended up hitting his shots long and wide quite a few times to make Tiafoe’s job easier.
Tiafoe, meanwhile, went for placement and precision instead of going for power and kept imparting a lot of top spin into his crosscourt forehand to move the Hungarian to his right frequently. The American got the requisite break of serve in the set to win it.
Frances Tiafoe hung on to win the second set:
Tiafoe played a lot of approaches in the second set and finished points with sumptuous volleys. The American demonstrated his undeniable ability in the net to put the Hungarian under pressure.
However, to his credit, the Hungarian became a lot more disciplined with his shotmaking in the second set and cut down on the number of unforced errors.
The second set was very well-contested, as the American and the Hungarian kept exchanging blows. The set then went into a tie-break, which saw Fucsovics race to a 4-1 lead.
However, Tiafoe then rallied to reduce the deficit. The topsy-turvy battle continued until the time the American was able to win the tie-break 13-11 and thereby seal his spot in the final.
Tiafoe will have to contend with yet another big server in the final, as both Hubert Hurkacz and Jan-Lennard Stuff serve really big. However, given his performance in the semifinal, many will put their money on him.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
