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By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, October 9, 2021

 
Frances Tiafoe

A sharp Frances Tiafoe shredded Sebastian Korda 6-0, 6-4 setting up an Indian Wells third-round clash vs. No. 8-seeded Hubert Hurkacz.

Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open Facebook

Late in the third set, a mischievous Frances Tiafoe turned up the torment on Sebastian Korda.

Dragging the lanky Korda forward with a devious drop shot, Tiafoe lofted a lob that left his leaping 6'5" opponent waving at the ball as if it were a butterfly floating out of reach.

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When Tiafoe wasn't befuddling his sometime practice partner with touch, he played over Korda's head with creativity.

Tiafoe broke five times crushing Korda 6-0, 6-4 to surge into the Indian Wells third round for the first time in five appearances.

A pumped-up Tiafoe dialed into a double dose of motivation for this highly-anticipated all-American clash: the 21-year-old Korda conquered Tiafoe for his first Tour-level win at the 2018 New York Open and force-fed the world No. 49 a bagel in the first practice set they shared in the desert last week.




"He bageled me," Tiafoe told Tennis Channel's Steve Weissman after a tidy 80-minute victory. "I hadn’t played in a while, he came out and he absolutely dogged me. So it was nice to get that 6-0 today."

So nice in fact Tiafoe celebrated flexing his bulging biceps to the Stadium 1 crowd before raising an index finger to his lips in the universal shush sign that was a message to American tennis fans who may have discounted Big Foe in favor of rising young Americans Korda, Jenson Brooksby and Brandon Nakashima.

"A lot of good americans coming up right now; he’s definitely been talked about a lot," Tiafoe told Weissman. "I just wanted everyone to slow down and still let people know I’m here. That’s pretty much what that was.

"I love Sebi—he’s a hell of a player and he’s going to keep going."

On the sandpaper slow purple court, Tiafoe set the tone early imposing his variety, angles and drop shots to neuter Korda's flat strikes and take control of corner to corner exchanges. 

The 49th-ranked Tiafoe broke to open then zapped a clean forehand winner down the line confirming the break for a 2-0 lead seven minutes into the match.

Both men can crack their two-handers with venom. Tiafoe showed his soft touch carving out a backhand drop shot for his second straight break and a 3-0 lead.

Through the first four games, Korda committed eight errors compared to one for Tiafoe. The 23-year-old Tiafoe is quicker around the court, plays with more spin on his shots and applied it all taking the edge in running rallies.

The gap grew into a chasm when Korda pushed a forehand volley wide surrendering serve for the third time in a row as Tiafoe burst out to a 5-0 lead 19 minutes into the match. Korda's flat strikes generally do more damage on faster hard courts. Tiafoe knows it and was eager to enact a fast start.

"I played here a bunch of times, Sebi was first time playing here," Tiafoe said. "We both know each other he came out a little nervous and I got on top of him early.

"I felt really good today. I definitely came after him."

Banging an approach into the corner, Tiafoe glided forward for a fine high backhand volley for set point. When Korda clanged a backhand into net, Tiafoe served up the bagel in just 24 minutes. A confident Tiafoe played much cleaner committing just two unforced errors on the gritty purple court.

Tennis Express

Thirty-one minutes into the match, Korda finally got on the board to stop the shutout holding with a double “come on!” Korda showed spirited resolve cranking a diagonal forehand in the corner to earn his first break and a 2-0 second-set lead.

Scrambling speed and superb spin propelled Tiafoe to another break in the seventh game. Exploding off the mark, Tiafoe streaked into the corner to dig out a drive and sent a heavy topspin reply down the line. Korda’s flat backhand collided with the tape as Tiafoe broke for 4-3.

Dropper and floating lob brought Tiafoe two match points in the ninth game. Korda cracked an ace to save the first match point and slashed a serve winner wide to deny the second at deuce. Korda crunched a 124 mph serve to erase a third match point. A stubborn Korda navigated his longest serve game of the match denying all three match points to hold for 4-5.

Tiafoe shrewdly hit behind Korda to save a break point in the 10th game.




On his fourth match point, Tiafoe spun a backhand down the line closing a clean 80-minute conquest before joining the crowd applauding Korda as he departed.

Next up for Tiafoe is a third-round clash vs. Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz, who continues his quest to sew up a spot in the ATP Finals in Turin.

The eighth-seeded Hurkacz hammered 21 winners beating Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-1, 7-5 in one hour, 26 minutes.

"Big serving from him, he’s long, he’s lanky he’s gonna get a lot of balls back in these fast slash slow conditions," Tiafoe said of Hurkacz. "It will definitely be challenging. I’ve got to serve well and take my opportunities when they present themselves.

"I’m excited. He’s chasing Turin so he’s got a lot of the line. I’m just playing and having fun with it."




No. 11-seeded Diego Schwartzman broke serve when former UCLA standout Maxime Cressy served for the match at 5-4, 40-15 then broke the American qualifier's heart saving two match points and rallying to win the final four games in a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory. Cressy won 49 of 87 trips to net but betrayed his own cause committing 14 double faults. Schwartzman will face Daniel Evans for a place in the round of 16.

Earlier, the 18th-seeded Evans saved 10 of 12 break points defeating former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, 47 minutes.

American No. 1 Reilly Opelka pumped 11 aces and did not face a break point dispatching Taro Daniel 7-5, 6-3 for his first Indian Wells main-draw win. The 20th-ranked Opelka improved to 20-18 in 2021 setting up a third-round meeting with either 23rd-seeded Grigor Dimitrov or German Daniel Altmaier.

 

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