ATP 500 Washington Tournament: Rublev Crashes Out, Tiafoe Advances to Round of 16
In the early hours of Wednesday to Thursday, Andrey Rublev was fighting for a spot in the third round of the ATP 500 tournament in Washington. Exempt from the first round, the Russian, seeded fifth, made his debut against young American left-hander Learner Tien, a finalist at the Next Gen ATP Finals last December.
Coming off a semifinal run in Los Cabos just days earlier, the world No. 10 hoped to continue with another strong performance in the U.S. capital. However, Rublev failed to gain the upper hand against his young opponent.
After missing three set points in the first set on Tien’s serve at 5-4, Marat Safin’s new protégé couldn’t recover and ultimately conceded the set a few games later.
The American quickly pulled ahead with an early break in the second set, cruising to victory (7-5, 6-2 in 1h31). With 13 winners and 42 unforced errors, Rublev exits Washington in the round of 32. Tien will next face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated Jaume Munar (6-4, 6-2).
Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe held his ground overnight. The world No. 11, who fired 34 winners, got the better of his compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic—last week’s Los Cabos finalist and a winner over Quentin Halys in his opening match (6-2, 3-6, 6-3).
Last year’s Cincinnati Masters 1000 finalist had the final say in a hard-fought battle (7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in 1h55) and advances to the round of 16. He will face Flavio Cobolli, who is defending points from last year’s Washington final and who eliminated Yoshihito Nishioka (6-2, 7-6).
