JTCC alumnus Frances Tiafoe pulled out three consecutive straight set wins against world top 30 Gilles Muller, Simone Bolelli, and world #11 Pablo Carreno-Busta, respectively, en route to his second career ATP World Tour final in Estoril, Portugal.
Tiafoe's 6-2, 6-3 semifinal win over Carreno-Busta marked the fourth time in the last eight months that he has beaten a player ranked in the world's top 15. Hometown favorite Portuguese veteran Joao Sousa ultimately defeated the 20-year-old in the finals.
Tiafoe has shown that he is among the most talented players under 21 years of age, and he stands at #4 in the ATP NextGen Race to Milan just behind German world #3 Alexander Zverev and Canadian world #25 Denis Shapovalov. Tiafoe is currently ranked #61 in the world and with a strong summer should finish 2018 with a career high year-end ranking.