Frances Tiafoe turned Louis Armstrong Stadium into his own personal party again Friday night, beating 22nd-seeded Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the fifth time in six years.
The 28-year-old, who grew up in Hyattsville, Maryland and trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, has become as synonymous with Louis Armstrong's late-night atmosphere as any player in the sport, and Friday's crowd delivered again. Tiafoe broke Vacherot's serve four times across the three sets while facing just three break points of his own, none of which he lost, and closed out the match in a little under two hours to move to 3-0 in this year's tournament.
"Friday night at the US Open, it's pretty easy to be locked in," Tiafoe said in an on-court interview afterward. "It's been great coming out here and playing on Louis. You guys had incredible energy. Let's keep this thing going. Why not?"
Vacherot, the Monaco-born 22nd seed who authored one of tennis's great Cinderella stories by winning the 2025 Shanghai Masters as a qualifier, never found consistent traction on his own serve Friday. He was broken in the opening game of the match and again in the third, allowing Tiafoe to bank the first set before Vacherot's error count climbed further in a second set he dropped in barely half an hour. Tiafoe let a 4-1 third-set lead slip to 4-4 before closing it out on his own serve, capping a performance in which he won 100 total points to Vacherot's 72.
Match Stats: Tiafoe vs. Vacherot
Tiafoe's serve was the difference for most of the night. He piled up 6 aces to Vacherot's 12, but easily offset that gap by winning 85 percent of his first-serve points and 67 percent on his second serve, compared to 76 percent and 49 percent for Vacherot. Tiafoe also converted 4 of 8 break-point chances while Vacherot went 0-for-3, and he out-hustled his opponent in extended exchanges, winning a match-high nine points in a row at one stretch.
Frances Tiafoe (11): 6 aces, 2 double faults, 68% first serves in, 85% first-serve points won, 67% second-serve points won, 4/8 break points converted, 100 total points won
Valentin Vacherot (22): 12 aces, 7 double faults, 50% first serves in, 76% first-serve points won, 49% second-serve points won, 0/3 break points converted, 72 total points won
Up Next: No. 7 Seed Daniil Medvedev Awaits Sunday at the US Open
Tiafoe's reward for advancing is a round-of-16 date Sunday against No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev, a matchup the Russian has dominated for most of a decade. Medvedev leads their ATP Tour head-to-head 6-1, including a 7-5, 7-5 win in the 2023 Indian Wells semifinals and a lopsided 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 victory over Tiafoe at this same US Open back in 2020 — also in the round of 16. Tiafoe's only win in the series came on clay at the 2019 Nice Open, and Medvedev has won every meeting the two have played on a hard court.
That history makes Sunday a clear measuring-stick moment for Tiafoe, who has built a reputation as one of the sport's best big-stage performers in New York — he reached the semifinals in 2022 and again in 2024 — but has struggled to solve Medvedev's counterpunching game specifically. Tiafoe could enjoy a trip back to Louis Armstrong's electric atmosphere, or a bump up to Arthur Ashe Stadium depending on the schedule.
Where to Watch/Listen
Next match: Sunday, US Open Round of 16 vs. No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York
TV: ESPN