It was a day to forget mostly for Americans at Mexican Open Acapulco apart from one shining light as Learner Tien took down Alexander Zverev in a superb win for the rising star 6-3, 6-4. This after Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton all exited for differing circumstances in Mexico.
Tien is known for his tricky lefty game and his consistency when he gets going as despite being a bit one-dimensional down one wing, it is lethal when he manages to get it right and he did just that on Wednesday. He lured Zverev into errors including to make it 4-3 in the first set tallying five consecutive games from 1-4 in the second set.
This sealed a one hour 28 minute victory for the American who saw off the World No.2 who was a victim of a food poisoning bug in Acapulco. It was a day that saw Holger Rune, Casper Ruud and also Tommy Paul exit due to either withdrawal or playing through but retiring after a few games.
Only really Zverev and Alex Michelsen who didn't confirm their illness but was mooted managed to play through. Albeit both were in losing efforts as Michelsen was defeated by Denis Shapovalov also. It is a day to forget for the organisers who lost not only those top names but also most of the American contingent too.
David Goffin upset fifth seed Ben Shelton 7-6(3), 6-3. The 34-year-old produced an all-court masterclass to win through with 74% of his service points won as he claimed the victory. Brandon Nakashima benefited from the retirement of Rune so in reality, it wasn't all bad when it came to the Americans.
But it was capped off with Frances Tiafoe losing out to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. In a night session, he let slip a match point in the second set tie-break but he stayed resolute to the task in hand and won 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3. ADF now plays Pacheco Mendez after Casper Ruud retired also.
Zverev | VS | Tien |
---|---|---|
Service | ||
6 | Aces | 4 |
0 | Double Faults | 0 |
75% (44/59) | 1st Service Percentage | 69% (40/58) |
68% (30/44) | 1st Service Points Won | 70% (28/40) |
33% (5/15) | 2nd Service Points Won | 61% (11/18) |
50% (3/6) | Break Points Saved | 67% (2/3) |
67% (6/9) | Service Games | 90% (9/10) |
Return | ||
30% (12/40) | 1st Return Points Won | 32% (14/44) |
39% (7/18) | 2nd Return Points Won | 67% (10/15) |
- | Break Points Saved | - |
Other | ||
1h 29m | Match Duration | 1h 29m |