Frances Tiafoe advanced to his maiden tour-level semifinal on grass as he moved past Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2 at the Stuttgart Open, here on Friday.
With his 25th win of the season, Tiafoe set a semifinal meeting against Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics.
In an entertaining clash at the ATP 250, Tiafoe recovered from squandering three set points in the first set, holding his nerve in the second set before racing clear in the decider.
The American was aggressive off short balls throughout the two-hour, 42-minute clash, firing 45 winners to level his ATP Head-to-Head series against the 21-year-old at 2-2.
The third seed Tiafoe is chasing his third tour-level title and second of the season this week, having triumphed on clay in Houston in April. Tiafoe is making his debut in Stuttgart, with his best result on grass prior to this week runs to the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club in 2018 and 2021.
The 25-year-old is up one place to No. 11 in the ATP Live Rankings and will break the Top 10 for the first time if he wins the trophy in Germany.
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