Following his win, the 20-year-old hilariously signed the camera lens, \u201cDoubled my clay Ws today\u201d, referring to his 1-6 tour-level clay-court record entering the ATP 250.<\/p>\n
Tien created 15 break chances, converting three, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to improve to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Basavareddy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought my energy dropped a little bit in the second and he started playing much better obviously,\u201d Tien said in his on-court interview. \u201cI was just trying to come out and not get broken in the first game [of the third set]. Just happy with how I raised my energy level and my overall playing in the third.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up next for the third seed is Roman Andres Burruchaga<\/a>, who overcame Brandon Nakashima<\/a> 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.<\/p>\n Second seed Frances Tiafoe<\/a> began his Houston campaign with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory against Australian Rinky Hijikata<\/a>. With NBA star Kevin Durant among those in attendance, the 2023 champion Tiafoe displayed his trademark shotmaking ability throughout the two-hour, 28-minute clash.<\/p>\n Playing his first clay-court tournament since reaching the Roland Garros<\/a> quarter-finals last season, Tiafoe is into the Houston quarter-finals for the fifth consecutive year.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst match on clay was definitely funny, I was still doing some stuff I was doing on a hard court just trying to get my feet under me,\u201d said Tiafoe. \u201cBut it\u2019s good. I got to play a couple hours out here. I\u2019m happy to get through and get another chance to play a bit better tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n The 28-year-old Tiafoe is 14-0 after winning the first set this season.<\/p>\n You May Also Like: Tiafoe shares courtside moment with Durant in Houston<\/a><\/p>\n All four of Thursday\u2019s matches went three sets, with Alexei Popyrin<\/a> finishing the day by ousting Alex Michelsen<\/a> 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Popyrin secured back-to-back tour-level wins for the first time since his Toronto quarter-final run in August.<\/p>\n