Frances Tiafoe extended one of the best tournament runs of his career, as the 14th-seeded Maryland native got past 10th-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Tiafoe is through to the semifinals of an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career. His best previous results in the nine tournaments that rank just below the Grand Slams were quarterfinal defeats in Miami in 2019 and in Paris last year.
Tiafoe has been to just one major semifinal, at the 2022 U.S. Open, and he has just one tournament championship in his career, in 2018 at Delray Beach, Fla.
The victory sends him through to a semifinal matchup with fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who topped 23rd-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-3, 7-5.
Tiafoe said, “I’ve been super happy being here, I think the experience on and off court. I think getting three solid wins before today comfortably, you know, I have a lot in the tank.
“I think every win builds more and more confidence, get more and more comfortable. Here we are.”
The first set on Wednesday saw Tiafoe get the only service break for a 4-3 lead. Tiafoe jumped on top 5-2 in the second set, then failed while serving for the match before coming through on his second opportunity.
Medvedev stretched his winning streak to 18 matches, during which he has claimed tournament titles in Rotterdam, Netherlands; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Doha, Qatar.
After sustaining an ankle injury during his fourth-round victory over 12th-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, Medvedev wound up with a bloody thumb in the second set vs. Davidovich Fokina after a fall.
“Actually the moment I cut it, I saw, I don’t know if I should say it, kind of the meat,” Medvedev said. “That was not nice to see. They cleaned it now. Have a small tape. Should be fine.
“The question is going to be whether I tape it in two days for the match or not. But that’s not a big problem, because, yeah, I managed to play well with the tape today. A lot of players tape their fingers and manage to play well, so I’m going to be able to do it also.”
The quarterfinal matches on the other side of the draw are scheduled for Thursday. Fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States, the defending champion, will oppose 11th-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy, and top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will clash with eighth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
–Field Level Media