STUTTGART/STARNBERG, June 12, 2024
2023 champion Frances Tiafoe started his title defence at the BOSS Open with a 7-5, 7-6(5) second-round win on Wednesday against Yannick Hanfmann of Germany.
Tiafoe, who beat Jan-Lennard Struff in the title match last year to win his third ATP Tour crown, saved all 11 break points he faced and broke his rival’s serve one time to triumph after one hour and 55 minutes.
Classy finish 👌@FTiafoe passes Yannick Hanfmann to reach the QFs 👏#BOSSOPEN pic.twitter.com/rzPr61DkhZ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 12, 2024
“The statistics hurt, with eleven break points that I didn’t convert. Especially in the first set, I had a few chances, but that’s grass court tennis. It’s difficult to break serve, but I played a good match. Sure, if I had taken a few of those chances, it might have gone differently,” Hanfmann said.
The fourth-seeded US-American has a modest 13-12 record this season. Tiafoe hopes to rediscover his best level this week on the German lawns, where he next takes on Briton Jack Draper, who fought past Marcos Giron from the United States 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes.
Musetti outlasts Koepfer
In other action, Lorenzo Musetti reached his third tour-level grass-court quarterfinal, as he edged past Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-7(9), 7-6(5), 6-3. The fifth-seeded Italian struck 15 winners in the third set to advance after two hours and 49 minutes.
“It was a really, really tough match,” Musetti said. “We saw two hours and a half of really good tennis. Dominik was playing really, really well… We were fighting until the end and I am really proud of myself.”
Up next for Musetti will be Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan, who defeated Serbian wild card entry Hamad Medjedovic 6-1, 7-6(4) in one hour and 19 minutes.
