By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, March 23, 2026
Photograph credit score: lululemon
The third-set tiebreaker is tennis’ strain cooker.
Frances Tiafoe feasted on the strain and delivered his most pulsating win of the season.
Tiafoe saved two match factors within the tiebreaker earlier than changing his seventh match level dethroning Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(11) earlier than a festive Miami Grandstand crowd at the moment.
A decided Tiafoe saved calm amid a frenetic 20-minute tiebreaker to safe his spot in his fifth profession Miami Open spherical of 16.
On his seventh match level, Tiafoe narrowly missed an ace down the T.
Kicking his second serve out large, Tiafoe closed when Mensik’s backhand return went large.
It took Tiafoe seven match factors in a sweaty two hour, 51-minute duel that produced just one service break.
It’s a milestone second for Tiafoe, who scored his 250th tour-level win of profession (250-220 lifetime), becoming a member of Taylor Fritz (349) as the one lively American males with 250 or extra match wins.
It marks the primary time since 1996 5 American males have reached the Miami spherical of 16: Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Alex Michelsen.
The Nineteenth-seeded Tiafoe avenged his 6-1, 6-4 loss to Mensik within the Davis Cup Qualifier in Delray Seaside final September. Tiafoe will face French left-hander Terence Atmane for a quarterfinal spot.
Counting on his fast-action serve, Atmane shocked seventh-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
The 24-year-old Atmane improved to 3-5 lifetime vs. Prime 10 opponents.
Staring down a second match level at 9-10 within the tiebreaker, Tiafoe dug in and received a crackling 25-shot rally to stage the breaker, 10-all.
Mensik mashed his twenty second ace down the T to save lots of a sixth match level.
Getting into the courtroom, Tiafoe tagged a diagonal forehand winner for a seventh match level.
Kicking a daring second serve deep within the field, Tiafoe closed it out.
