‘I believe that he can do it’ – Alex Corretja tips Frances Tiafoe to go all the way in US Open

ByEurosport

Updated 07/09/2022 at 23:52 GMT

Frances Tiafoe has been backed to 'go all the way' in the US Open by Eurosport’s Alex Corretja following his straight sets victory over Andrey Rudlev to become the first male American player to reach the semi-final since Andy Roddick in 2006. “He feels that he can go all the way and I believe he can do it because honestly, he's playing extremely good tennis," said Corretja.

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Frances Tiafoe has already captured the imagination of the home crowd in New York with his thrilling performances enroute to the semi-finals of the US Open, but Eurosport’s Alex Corretja believes that he can 'go all the way'.

The American has been one of the standout stories of the tournament so far, knocking out 22-Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal in the fourth set before taking apart Andrey Rudlev in the last-eight, playing some amazing tennis in the process.

And he has demonstrated that he has the mentality to match his undeniable ability, winning two successive tie-breaks against Rublev, who has much more experience at this level.

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It is his maturity and confidence that is most impressing Corretja, who believes now is his time to secure a maiden Grand Slam title. He will meet Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner in the next round.

“In his mind he is not happy that he just reaches the semis,” said the Eurosport expert.

“He feels that he can go all the way and I believe he can do it because honestly, he's playing extremely good tennis and very intelligent and very clever every time. We will see.

“For me, the most important thing is that he's enjoying so much his time on the court. It seems like he's having fun, and it's not that easy to have fun in such a stage of Slam where you try to reach the semi-finals.

“It's beautiful to see someone that executes the game that well.”

Mats Wilander was full of praise for the 24-year-old’s all-round game after a rather flawless victory over the No. 9 seed.

He said: “It was an unbelievably strong effort. And when you watch him play, it doesn't feel like he's overplaying. He's hitting his backhand beautifully, and not just the strike itself, but the variation on the backhand side is something that I think we've been waiting for, for a while.

“We know he’s got the ability but then he's added miles per hour on the first serve. His forehand is absolutely crazy good. He can hit it flat, he can hit with spin, and we haven't even talked about his movement. He's lightning fast.

“So this has been sort of been a long time coming in a way, but we never know what they can do it until you see it. And now we know he can.”

Tiafoe’s energy and relentless didn’t let up in the two-hour, 35-minute triumph and Barbara Schett believes that he has the fitness to match anyone in the men’s game.

“He put in the hard yards, he was working a lot harder,” she said.

“I think that confidence shows in his game because he’s trying to take the balls so early, especially those returns.”

While it was a night to remember for Tiafoe, Rublev endured another night to forget at this stage of the tournament.

Defeat means he has now crashed out at the quarter-final of a Grand Slam for a sixth time, and his frustration was clear as he took to his seat in tears after being broken in the third set.

"He still hasn't moved one step further," said Schett.

Rublev in tranen

Image credit: Eurosport

"And in the third set he was a bit teary on court as well. You could see the frustration in his face. Once again, he couldn't handle it."

Wilander said he understood Rublev's frustrations but tipped the Russian to bounce back in the future.

"When you're as hard working as Rublev is, at some point it's gonna get a little frustrating because today, even though the score is really close, the big points belong to Frances.

"Andrey probably needs to add a little bit more variety to his game. Easier said than done. He needs to improve his second serve. Also easier said than done.

"But he's going to keep working and keep trying, and one day don't be surprised if Andrey Rublev goes all the way because he wants it badly."

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