WHAT HAPPENED: Frances Tiafoe might want to start looking into establishing a New York City residence. Specifically, one inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The No. 10's seed's love affair with the Open's biggest court continued Wednesday as he rolled into Round 3 with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 win over Austria's Sebastian Ofner that was over and done with in a tidy 1 hour and 32 minutes.
Tiafoe had never faced Ofner before the two set foot in Ashe to kick off the Day 3 night session, and if there was a moment where Tiafoe was in that feeling-out stage his opponent, he never really showed it. The American hardly trailed (Ofner held serve to start the second set) in the straight-sets win, his fourth in five tilts played in Ashe in his last two appearances in Flushing.
"It suits me perfectly, honestly," Tiafoe said afterwards. "For my personality, for my game. Obviously the US Open sits in a perfect place as it pertains to the time of what we're competing against with other sports. Everyone is here. Everyone is here to watch and enjoy entertainment.
"I really enjoy that. A lot of people, that became friends over the last years, get to come and watch. I really like to go and compete in front of them."
He was in top form on serve for much of the duration, losing just 16 points in 13 service games, and saved the only break point he faced: in the first game of the third set. And in the rallies, Tiafoe was equally on point off the ground, finishing with 21 winners.
"The only part I can complain about is how I served early in the match," Tiafoe, who was pushed to deuce twice on serve twice in the opener. "But I picked it up, for sure. From the back of the court I was really solid, clinical, not many mistakes at all. I thought I played much better than my first match [a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 win over American teenager Learner Tien] as an intensity standpoint.
WHAT IT MEANS: Through two rounds, Tiafoe has looked every bit of the major threat he became in the aftermath of his breakout run in Queens last year. So far, he's only dropped 16 games in six sets played.
But up next is a subtly-tricky test: Tiafoe will face No. 22 seed Adrian Mannarino of France, who was a four-set winner against Hungary's Fabian Marozsan in Wednesday's day session. The French left-hander, who, at 35, is one of the elder statesmen of the tour, has had a strong summer. First, he won on grass in Newport, and later, reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati.
He's also beaten Tiafoe before, though they haven't played in five years. Mannarino won the pair's first meeting, in Tiafoe's backyard in Washington, D.C. in 2016, while Tiafoe's win came here—in four sets, in 2018.
MATCH POINT: Tiafoe has now reached the third round at the US Open in four straight years. Before his run to the semifinals in 2022, his best finish was the fourth round twice.
