Tiafoe edges closer to title defence in Houston

American Frances Tiafoe, the No 3 seed, moved into the semi-finals of the Houston Open by winning against Australian Jordan Thompson, the No 6 seed, 7-6 (8), 6-4 at River Oaks Country Club on Friday night.

After a poor start to the 2024 season, this is the American’s best win of the season to date.

Tiafoe, ranked No 21, will play Italian Luciano Darderi next.

In the previous round of the Houston tournament, the American edged out Australian James Duckworth (6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5).

Thompson, ranked No 33, beat Chinese qualifier Yibing Wu (6-4, 6-4) and edged out American Aleksandar Kovacevic (4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (7)) in the previous rounds of the Houston tournament.

Houston ATP 250, other last eight results (River Oaks Country Club, clay, USD 742.350, most recent results first):

• Luciano Darderi beat Marcos Giron (7): 6-0, 6-4
• Ben Shelton (1) beat Brandon Nakashima: 7-5, 7-6 (9)
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry (4) beat Michael Mmoh (WC): 6-3, 0-1 ret.