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Chris O’Connell defeats world No.22 Frances Tiafoe to move into the third round of the Miami Open for the first time.
Miami, USA, 24 March 2024 | Rhys de Deugd
Chris O’Connell has scored one of the biggest wins of his career at the Miami Open, eliminating host-nation hopeful Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
The Australian was not phased by rain delays and American fans supporting the world No.22, as he fought through a tight two-set contest to claim a 7-5 7-6(5) victory.
This is O’Connell’s sixth career win against a top-30 opponent.
Much like his opening-round win, the world No.66 impressed with his serving, as he fired off 17 aces without a single double fault for the match.
Eleven of those aces came in the second set, where he only dropped nine points on his serve and closed out the match in a tiebreak.
This is the first time in the 29-year-old’s career that he has won back-to-back main-draw matches at an ATP Masters 1000 event and continues his career-best run in Miami.
O’Connell will face another American in the third round when he takes on 20-year-old wildcard Martin Damm Jr.
> VIEW: Miami Open men’s singles draw
In the evening session, Jordan Thompson bowed out in the second round with a three-set loss to veteran Gael Monfils.
There is still a golden opportunity to have three Australians feature in the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event, with fellow Aussies Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin to play their second-round matches tomorrow.
Aussies in action – Miami
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
Chris O’Connell (AUS) d [21] Frances Tiafoe (USA) 7-5 7-6(5)
Gael Monfils (FRA) d [33] Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-7(3) 6-1 6-2
Women’s singles, second round
[20] Emma Navarro (USA) d [Q] Storm Hunter (AUS) 6-4 6-3
COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
[9] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Kwon Soon-woo (KOR)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [26] Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
Men’s singles, third round
Chris O’Connell (AUS) v Martin Damm Jr. (USA)
Women’s doubles, first round
[4] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Veronika Kudermetova/Anastasia Potapova
[Alt] Daria Saville (AUS)/Magdalena Frech (POL) v Wang Xinyu (CHN)/Zheng Saisai (CHN)
Men’s doubles, first round
[1] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v Simone Bolelli (ITA)/Andrea Vavassori (ITA)
John Peers (AUS)/Harri Heliovaara (FIN) v Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/Mate Pavic (CRO)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Ariel Behar (URU)/Adam Pavlasek (CZE)
Men’s doubles, second round
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)/Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) v [3] Joe Salisbury (GBR)/Rajeev Ram (USA)
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