TAYLOR FRITZ, JARED DONALDSON BOTH ADVANCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. TENNIS, AS OTHER AMERICANS TAKE A TUMBLE BY RICKY DIMON FOR 10SBALLS

Written by: Staff on 19th July 2016

TAYLOR FRITZ, JARED DONALDSON BOTH ADVANCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. TENNIS, AS OTHER AMERICANS TAKE A TUMBLE BY RICKY DIMON FOR 10SBALLS |

Photo by @citiopen via Instagram.

Fritz, Donaldson advance in Washington, D.C., other Americans take a tumble on Day 1

By Ricky Dimon

Taylor Fritz and Jared Donaldson helped carry the American torch on the opening day of main-draw action at the Citi Open, where the host nation produced mixed results. Local Washington, D.C. products Denis Kudla and Frances Tiafoe fell in the first round, but Fritz and Donaldson picked up the slack.

With the highest ranking among the current group of on-the-rise Americans at No. 67, Fritz continued his 2015-16 march up the charts by cruising past Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-3 in a night match on stadium court. The 18-year-old fought off all seven of the break points he faced–four in the opener and three more in set two. Not surprisingly considering Fritz registers at 6’4” and Sela comes in at 5’9”, the serve proved to be a major factor in this one. Fritz cracked 11 aces compared to two double-faults, while the diminutive Israeli recorded zero aces and five double-faults.

Shortly after Fritz polished off Sela, Donaldson completed a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 comeback against fellow qualifier Vincent Millot. The 19-year-old, ranked 153rd, broke serve five on five occasions before advancing in one hour and 57 minutes. Donaldson also fired nine aces en route to his first ATP-level match victory of the season.

Next up for Donaldson on Tuesday is No. 4 seed Benoit Paire; Fritz, meanwhile, is set for a blockbuster showdown against 19-year-old German Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.

“It’s starting to get pretty normal now,” Zverev, the No. 27 player in the world, said of the highly-touted youngsters going head-to-head, even though he has never faced Fritz during their brief professional careers. “It’s just another normal match.”

Fritz apparently has something to prove, too, because Zverev sided with Tiafoe when he was asked about the up-and-coming American contingent.

“I really like the way Frances Tiafoe is playing,” Zverev commented. “He’s a very aggressive player. He’s still young, so he has to learn a little bit. I think he will be very dangerous in the future.”

I wanna thank @citiopen for this amazing opportunity to compete in my favorite tournament of the year, can’t wait to compete in my hometown!#happytobehome #bigfoeonthecomeup – Photo by @bigfoe1998 via Instagram.

Tiafoe showed flashes of that danger in Monday’s nightcap, but he could not find the consistency needed to beat Adrian Mannarino. Despite leading by a break in the first set and by two breaks in the second, Tiafoe eventually lost 7-6(4), 7-5 in one hour and 38 minutes. The world No. 156 blasted eight aces without double-faulting a single time, but he won only 55 percent of the points even when he put his first serve in play. Mannarino, on the other hand, won 81 percent of his first-serve points.

Kudla joined Tiafoe at the exit door with a disappointing 7-5, 6-0 setback at the hands of John Millman. In the other American result of the day, Bjorn Fratangelo battled past countryman Alex Kuznetsov 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Men’s Singles Draw: click here

Men’s Doubles Draw: click here

Topics: 10sballs.com, Alexander Zverev, American Tennis, Citi Open, Frances Tiafoe, Jared Donaldson, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Taylor Fritz, Tennis News, Washington DC

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arshia_kazemi says:

July 20, 2016 at 7:32 am

RT @10sBalls_com: Fritz, Donaldson Both Advance In Washington DC #Tennis, As Other Americans Take A Tumble
https://t.co/kzprzfc4HA https://…