The Big Foe Show must go on.
Frances Tiafoe kept up the strong showing by the American men at their home Grand Slam, steamrolling Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in a third-round rout at the U.S. Open.
The 11th-seeded Tiafoe looked completely dominant, not broken once and needing under two hours to roll through into the Round of 16.
“Friday night at the U.S. Open. Pretty easy to be locked-in those type of days,” Tiafore said in an on-court interview. “Let’s keep this thing going; why not?”
There were signs in Louis Armstrong Stadium that read Big Foe Show, with celebrities Ja Rule and Lisa Leslie in the stands. They saw fan favorite Tiafoe earn a date with No. 7 Daniil Medvedev for a berth in the quarterfinals.
“It’s just so much love. I appreciate them taking time, coming out,” said Tiafore said. “See you back on Sunday.”
Tiafoe improved to 6-0 on Armstrong, including 3-0 over the past week.
But he’s lost six of seven meetings with Medvedev, and will have his hands full trying to break through.
His victory improved seeded Americans to 30-2 at this U.S. Open.
No U.S. man has won a Grand Slam since 2003, a staggering 23-year drought. But with their aggregate form and the way the draw has opened up — with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime all gone — there is a sense that this could be a golden opportunity.
In addition to Tiafoe, Alex Michelsen got a big result on Court 17. He cruised to a 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-3 victory in just over two hours against Daniel Merida and is now on to a fourth-round matchup with No. 27 seed Tomás Martin Etcheverry. Tommy Paul faces defending champ Carlos Alcaraz in the Round of 16.
Four other Americans were still alive in the Round of 32.
Ben Shelton was slated to play Denis Shapovalov on Friday night for a Round of 16 date with Stefanos Tsitsipas. Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien and wild card Michael Zheng are all still alive as well.
