Tiafoe thrives in this part of the tennis season—not only did he reach the biggest final of his career at this tournament a year ago, he’s also reached both of his career Grand Slam semifinals at the US Open, in 2022 and 2024.
Standing between the No. 14-ranked American and another quarterfinal in Cincinnati will be No. 9-ranked Holger Rune—it’s actually the first match-up of the men’s tournament between Top 15 players.
And there’s going to be a bit of deja vu, as the pair’s only previous meeting came right here a year ago, in the semifinals. Tiafoe won that one, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), but it easily could’ve gone Rune’s way—the Dane not only led 5-2 in the third set, he also had held double match point a few games later with Tiafoe serving at 4-5, 15-40.
Will Tiafoe go 2-0, or will Rune get his revenge?