Tiafoe's Dramatic Acapulco Escape
Frances Tiafoe saved 2 match points to beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9) at ATP Acapulco, highlighting a day of upsets and favorite carnage. Betting recaps show wins for Cobolli, Wu, Tiafoe, Nakashima amid the chaos.
The chaos in Acapulco saw two-time defending champion and world No. 6 Alex de Minaur shockingly ousted in the first round by American qualifier Patrick Kypson. The upsets continued as top seed Alexander Zverev also fell, alongside other notable names like Cameron Norrie, creating a wide-open draw. This was the eighth appearance at the Acapulco tournament for Frances Tiafoe, who entered the event ranked World No. 28. The American has been trying to regain momentum after a difficult 2025 season and acknowledged the increasing depth of talent on the ATP tour, stating, "Rankings don't even matter anymore, the margins are so tight." His opponent, fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic, was ranked No. 75 entering the match. The near-victory against Tiafoe would have been a significant milestone for Kovacevic, whose career highlights include reaching two ATP tour finals in 2025. The day's other notable results included Italy's Flavio Cobolli downing Dalibor Svrcina and China's Wu Yibing defeating Sho Shimabukuro to set up a quarter-final clash against each other. Brandon Nakashima advanced after his opponent, fourth-seed Holger Rune, retired due to illness in a previous round. Tiafoe's dramatic win, where he battled back from being down 4-6 in the final set tiebreak, propelled him into the quarter-finals. He was set to face Mattia Bellucci, who had staged his own upset by defeating fourth-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
