PARIS (AP) – Frances Tiafoe kept coming oh so close to extending his French Open match against Alexander Zverev: 12 times yesterday, the American was two points from forcing things to a fifth set.
Yet the 12th-seeded Tiafoe never got closer than that.
Instead, the 22nd-seeded Zverev finished out his 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory after more than three hours in Court Philippe Chatrier to reach the fourth round. With Tiafoe’s exit, none of the 16 men from the United States (US) who were in the bracket at the start of the tournament are still in the field.
“I mean, for the majority of the match, I felt like I was in control,” said Tiafoe, a 25-year-old from Maryland who fell to 1-7 against Zverev.
“It’s just tough,” he said about a half-hour after his loss ended, rubbing his face with his hand. “I should be playing the fifth right now.”
Two other American men lost earlier on Saturday: number nine seed Taylor Fritz and unseeded Marcos Giron.
Number 23 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina beat Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, and Nicolas Jarry of Chile eliminated Giron 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3.
It is the second year in a row that zero men from the US will participate in the fourth round at Roland Garros. If nothing else, it stands as a symbolic step back for the group after what seemed to be a couple of breakthrough showings at the past two majors.
For Tiafoe, getting to the fourth round is never the goal.
“I want to win the trophy,” he said.
Remember: No American man has won any Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
But Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the US Open along the way to getting to the semifinals there last September, the first time in 16 years the host nation had a representative in the men’s final four at Flushing Meadows.
Then, at the Australian Open this January, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton became the first trio of Americans in the men’s quarter-finals in Melbourne since 2000. Paul made it a step beyond that, to the semi-finals.
After that came this benchmark: 10 Americans were ranked in the ATP’s Top 50, something that last happened in June 1995.
Yesterday, after putting aside a whiffed over-the-shoulder volley – he leaned atop the net for a moment in disbelief – Tiafoe served for the fourth set at 5-3, but couldn’t seal the deal.
