Tiafoe cruises into the quarter-finals

The 2023 BOSS OPEN champion safely negotiated his round-of-16 hurdle against Rinky Hijikata, while crowd favorite Nick Kyrgios bowed out despite a strong start and a first-set lead against Sho Shimabukuro.

Frances Tiafoe is through to the quarter-finals of the BOSS OPEN. The sixth-seeded American defeated Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday, underlining his ambitions of capturing a second Stuttgart title after his triumph in 2023.

The opening set remained on serve until Tiafoe secured the decisive break at 5-4 before confidently serving it out. In the second set, the American appeared to be cruising after earning an early break, but Hijikata responded immediately with a break of his own. After both players exchanged another break, Tiafoe held his nerve when it mattered most, breaking for 5-4 and then serving out the match. After 1 hour and 19 minutes, he converted his first match point on serve.

Awaiting Tiafoe in the quarter-finals is fourth seed Jiri Lehecka. The Czech had to battle hard against James Duckworth before prevailing 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(3) after 2 hours and 26 minutes to complete Friday’s quarter-final matchup.

Kyrgios falls after strong fight

Nick Kyrgios’ run at the BOSS OPEN came to an end in the round of 16. The Australian was defeated by Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-6 in a match dominated by powerful serving from both players.

Kyrgios made the brighter start, breaking Shimabukuro in his very first service game. That early break proved enough to secure the opening set for the former Wimbledon finalist. The Australian was particularly impressive on serve, firing eight aces in the first set and winning 81 percent of points behind his first delivery. Over the course of the match, Kyrgios finished with 22 aces, while Shimabukuro struck 13 of his own.

The second set remained firmly on serve throughout and was ultimately decided by a tie-break, where the Japanese qualifier edged ahead to level the contest.

The deciding set followed a similar pattern, with both players holding comfortably until late in the match. Then, at 4-4, Shimabukuro converted his first and only break point of the entire match. Then the 28-year-old Japanese player converted his second match point on serve after 1 hour and 52 minutes to reach the BOSS OPEN quarter-finals for the first time.

Shimabukuro will now face the winner of the later match between top seed Ben Shelton (USA) and fellow American Marcos Giron on Friday.