Second seed Frances Tiafoe scored a crucial 4-2 4-2 4-2 win over 21-year-old Swede Mikael Ymer to secure the second spot behind Jannik Sinner in the round robin Group B at the Next Gen Finals in Milan.
Tiafoe rallied from 1-2 down in the opening set by winning five consecutive games with two breaks in the fifth game of the first set and in the first game of the second set to build up a 4-2 3-0 lead. Ymer saved two break points and won the deciding point to hold his serve with an ace. Tiafoe sealed the second set 4-2 on the deciding point after saving a break point.
Tiafoe earned the final break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead on the deciding point and sealed the win with his strong serve after 67 minutes.
“I thought I came up with the good points when i needed them. I did a good job, nothing fancy and just stayed locked in”, said Tiafoe.
Tiafoe will face last year’s finalist Alex De Minaur in the semifinal on Friday evening.
“I wanted to see in the final, but it has to be in the semifinals. He is a workhorse. He is going to get every ball, keep every ball extremely long and make me beat him. I am ready for the task. We are going to go after each other, but we will be still good friends after”, said Tiafoe.
