DCs Frances Wins US Clay | News Article | Mubadala Citi DC Open

Tiafoe Climbs to Career-High World No. 11 Ranking

The clay court season has hardly begun and already DC's Frances Tiafoe has been crowned king of the dirt in the U.S. and is on the brink of cracking the world's Top-10 rankings for the first time in his career!

After an epic finals weekend and playing in his first tour final this year, the 25-year-old College Park native defeated Argentinean rising star Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 7-6(1), 7-6(6), late Sunday evening to win the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas, and return to the winner's circle for the first time since his maiden title run in 2018 at the Delray Beach Open.

"It was an absolute war and an unbelievable final," said Tiafoe during the trophy ceremony. "I hope you guys in the crowd all enjoyed it, because that's what it's about."

It was also the first time Tiafoe was seeded No. 1 at a tour event in his career, and he sure played like it. The DC star dropped serve only once throughout the tournament. Even more impressive, he completed the entirety of his Houston run in just two days, after persistent rain delayed play for three days and led to a marathon finals weekend.

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The well-known JTCC alum thrilled Houston tennis fans with spectacular shotmaking throughout the jam-packed weekend, but saved his best points for the most crucial moments in the championship match.

After defeating compatriot Steve Johnson and No. 6 seed Jason Kubler, of Australia, in straight sets on Saturday, Tiafoe repeated the feat on Sunday, dusting Dutch southpaw Gijs Brouwer, 6-4, 6-1, in the semis, before edging Etcheverry in a nail-biting final in which the American fell behind, 3-5, in the second-set tiebreak, before roaring back to clinch victory on his second match point with his 12th ace.

With the Houston victory, Tiafoe climbs four spots in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to a career-high World No. 11 ranking, just one spot behind top American Taylor Fritz (No. 10).

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