Tiafoe Falls Short in ATP Tour Debut in Washington

July 29, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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American Francis Taifoe made his ATP Tour debut Monday in the first-round of the Citi Open in Washington D.C. but lost to Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round bout.

Taifoe fought off three match points before Donskoy was able to close out the 16-year old. Despite the loss, the teenager took positives out of his debut and sees his future as a bright one.

“It was really special playing tonight and I hope I can play here again for many years to come,” said Taifoe, who is a D.C.-area native and trains in the Maryland suburbs. “This guy [Donskoy] is just outside the top 100 and we played a pretty competitive match tonight. At 16 and playing at the level like this, I leave here with confidence.”

The seventh-ranked junior player in the world Taifoe lost in the Wimbledon junior finals to Long Island’s Noah Rubin earlier this month. The 6’1 powerful server had the home crowd on his side on Monday and embraced the stage he played on.

“Tonight was probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing tennis,” said Taifoe. “The whole crowd with you. Every point you win everyone is going crazy.”

Donskoy will meet Kevin Anderson, who received n opening round bye, in the second-round.

Robby Ginepri and Donald Young advanced into the second-round on Monday. Ginepri beat Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-4, 6-2 to move on. He used a consistent serve to save all four of the break points he faced while also picking up three break-points of his own.

The American who reached as high as 15th in the rankings almost 10 years ago will next face top-seeded Tomas Berdych in the next round. The two haven’t met since 2009, a matchup that Berdych won.

Young ousted Japan’s Yiuchu Sugita 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in just over two hours, while fellow Americans Tim Smyczek and Rajeev Ram pushed their way into the second-round with victories over Americans Alex Kuznetsov and Jared Donaldson, respectively.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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