Tennis: Tiafoe beats Chung on 8th match point to reach Delray Beach semis

Frances Tiafoe of the US serves during his men's singles first round match against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro on day two of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan 16, 2018. PHOTO: AFP

MIAMI (AFP) - US wildcard Frances Tiafoe finished off eighth-seeded Chung Hyeon on Saturday (Feb 24) in a match halted by rain the night before to reach the semi-finals of the Delray Beach ATP tournament.

Tiafoe, who ousted second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the second round, converted his eighth match point to complete a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory over eighth-seeded Chung, who is riding high after a surprise run to the Australian Open semi-finals.

Rain had halted play with Tiafoe leading 5-3 in the third set on Friday night.

"The stress level was pretty high today," said Tiafoe, who will take on Canadian Denis Shapovalov for a place in the final on Saturday night.

"I'm just going to keep going," added Tiafoe, who reached his first ATP quarter-final at the New York Open last week.

"I think it's almost better that I play today so I don't have much time to really get a big head or anything... I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a good one." In the other semi-final, Germany's Peter Gojowczyk will take on American Steve Johnson.

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