(August 29, 2025) FLUSHING, NY – Qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany stunned No. 17 Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7), to book his first fourth-round spot at the 2025 US Open. Struff knocked out No. 11 Holger Rune in his previous match.
There are just two American men left in the singles draw of the US Open – Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
With the loss, Tiafoe’s ranking will fall into the 30s.
“Obviously he’s a hell of a player, ” Tiafoe said to media. “He’s been highly ranked. He played well today. Served pretty well. His percentage wasn’t so high, but he served pretty well, especially early in games. So it was kind of tough to get my feet in games.
“I just thought Grandstand was super quick today and having to have rallies was very, very tough. I was late on a lot of balls, just scrubbing them to be on offense, and he was dictating play most of the time. The match was always kind of on his racquet. I had a little window there when he just gave me some gifts. I didn’t take it.
“But, you know, I played extremely passive today. I didn’t put any pressure on him at all.”
“Well, I just think it was a court thing. I think actually Louis (Armstrong) played much better for me. It was very, very fast today. Last time I played, it wasn’t — I mean, I didn’t have many rallies. So it was kind of hard to kind of see how fast the court was moving.
“But today he was returning so big into me first couple of shots. You know, it was very, very tough. I was late on everything. I thought I still had some looks to be aggressive and take charge a little bit, and I just didn’t.
“You know, it’s going to be hard to swallow how I played today and being out of the US Open, for sure, this early.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how the rest of my season is going to go. I have no idea,” Tiafoe said.
“I mean, it’s a lot to kind of take in, what is the reality currently now, right? I see Davis Cup, Laver Cup, Tokyo, other tournaments. I have no idea what the rest of the year looks like.
“I don’t know what I’ll do, I don’t know how I’ll come up, I don’t know how I’ll play, I don’t know how to recover from this, to be honest with you.
“I haven’t been this down in a very, very long time.”
Tiafoe says he will still play both Davis Cup and Laver Cup.
More to follow.
