Frances Tiafoe is among the ATP players to have impressively battled into the fourth round of Roland Garros.
A record-breaking nine of the 16 round three matches went to a fifth set in Paris, where Tiafoe edged out qualifier Jaime Faria.
After exactly four hours, the American knocked out his Portuguese ATP rival to set up a meeting with Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
Arnaldi also needed five sets to make it past Raphael Collignon at Roland Garros, but it was Zachary Svajda’s five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo that caught the eye of Tiafoe.
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Frances Tiafoe shouts out Zachary Svajda after latest Roland Garros win
Tiafoe said of his fellow American in the French capital: “I just want to say a big shout out to Zach Svajda man.
“The guy’s had a crazy story in his own respect man, you know, obviously I thought he was going to be at this level much sooner, but he had a lot of things going on, and it’s great to see him kind of, you know, it’s tapping into his potential.
“He’s been through some emotional stuff, and obviously, you know, today, the passing of his dad, his dad’s birthday, got it done, like, he’s a great player, a great person, against Francis Cerundolo, so it’s not easy getting it done in five.
“Clay’s not even Zach’s surface so that’s massive, man.”
“So you know, I’ve seen him emotional.
“I was like, you know, that lifted the hairs on my arm, honestly, so I’m super happy for him.”
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Rennae Stubbs delighted for Zachary Svajda and Frances Tiafoe at Roland Garros
It was indeed an emotional win for Svajda, with the unseeded American reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time on what would have been his father’s 61st birthday.
Former doubles player Rennae Stubbs also shared her delight for the 23-year-old, writing on X: “Huge shout out also to [Zach Svajda]!
“What an incredible effort to beat such a great clay courter & to handle his nerves especially when he could have won in straight sets & didn’t let that disappointment affect him in the 5th!
“Wins on his dad’s bday who he lost last year!”
And she was also really impressed by Tiafoe in his match, posting on X: “Huge comeback from Foe here!
“The game at 3-4 down in the 3rd was the match!
“It was over after that.
“What a great effort considering he was overwhelming favorite to win this matchup and he rose to the occasion in the end.
“Proud of him!”
Svajda now has a Roland Garros clash against Flavio Cobolli, who is one of only three top 10 seeds left in the draw alongside Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Meanwhile, Svajda and Tiafoe are the only two Americans left in the draw, with Tommy Paul, Learner Tien, Alex Michelsen and Brandon Nakashima all falling in round three.
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