Frances Tiafoe fended off match points to beat Holger Rune 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) and book his place in the final of the 2024 Cincinnati Open. The American is now in his 9th career final (3-5 so far), but it is his first at a Masters 1000. To win the title, he will have to challenge world number one Jannik Sinner.
As he has done all week, Rune (No. 16) came onto the court with great confidence, especially on his serve. Despite a poor 37% first serve rate, he won 90% of those points and 65% on his second serve, making it very difficult for Tiafoe (No. 27) to trouble his opponent.
Rune was more aggressive, hitting 15 winners compared to Tiafoe’s 7 and dictating the pace in the first part of the match. The former Paris Masters champion took advantage of his second break point to take the lead and secured the first set 6-4.
However, Tiafoe quickly put the first set behind him and went into the second set with a lot of confidence. He was almost unbeatable on his own serve and won 89% of the points. The American managed an early break and took a 3-0 lead after just a few minutes. He soon managed a second break and won the set 6-1.
Frances Tiafoe
‘Big-Foe’ had a few break chances in the third set, but Rune was able to fend them off, and almost immediately afterwards Rune took advantage of a few break points and took a 3-0 lead thanks to strong service games.
Rune took a 5-2 lead and had a chance to seal the win on serve, but ‘Big-Foe’ took advantage of the pressure on the Dane, broke and fended off two match points to level the score. The match was decided in a thrilling tiebreak, with Tiafoe taking an early lead and then holding serve to secure one of the biggest wins of his career, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3).
In the final, he will face world number one Jannik Sinner, who has just defeated Alexander Zverev in the third set tiebreak. The Italian leads 3-1 in the direct duel with ‘Big-Foe’; they last met at the Vienna Open 2023.