Frances Tiafoe cruised past Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round of the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) avenging his recent defeat against the Frenchman at the Sardinia Open in Santa Margherita Open.
Tiafoe went up a 2-0 with a break in the second game. Moutet converted his second break-back point in the third game. Tiafoe sealed the first set with his second break in the eighth game. The US player broke twice in the first and fifth games to win the second set 6-2.
Tiafoe set up a second round match against Miomir Kecmanovic. Tiafoe beat Kecmanovic in their only head-to-head match in Miami 2019.
“I played really well tonight. I was really intense from the beginning. I am just happy I came and I took care of business: Miomir is one of my best friends on Tour. He is a year younger than me and we have had a couple of good matches before. He has been playing really good. He is around his career high now and I am climbing back. We would not usually play in the second round of an ATP 250, but it is the way it is right now. It is is going to be a really good match”, said Tiafoe.
Tommy Paul saved six of his eight break points in his 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 over Stefano Travaglia after 1 hour and 35 minutes. Travaglia went up a double break to take a 5-2 lead earning three set points. Paul pulled back one break back for 3-5, when Travaglia was serving for the set. The US player broke for the second time in a row to draw level to 5-5 after Travaglia did not convert another set point. Paul raced out to a 5-0 lead en route to winning the tie-break 7-2. Travaglia went up a 3-2 lead, but Paul came back by winning four consecutive games with a double break to claim the second set 6-4.
Jordan Thompson fended off a match point in his 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 6-2. The Australian player came back from 5-6 to win the tie-break 8-6 before claiming the third set 6-2.
Fernando Verdasco broke once in each set in his 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win over James Duckworth setting up a second round match against John Millman.
