By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Photo credit: Matthew Calvis
Frances Tiafoe’s Cincinnati run ended in a painful exit—that may hurt his US Open hopes as well.
Holger Rune held a 6-4, 3-1 lead in today’s Cincinnati Open rematch when Tiafoe was forced to retire with a lower-back injury.
The seventh-seeded Rune advanced to the Cincinnati quarterfinals where he will face either his third straight American opponent, fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz, or French qualifier Terence Atmane next.
Rune avenged a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) defeat to Tiafoe in the 2024 Cincinnati semifinals that saw the former US Open semifinalist save a couple of match points.
Get better soon, Foe 🙏@holgerrune2003 reaches the quarter-finals 6-4 3-1 RET as Tiafoe retires due to a back injury. #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/8N3R1DT3Yb
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 13, 2025
After Tiafoe went up 3-0, Rune won nine of the next 11 games before the American retired.
“It’s an unfortunate way to end the match, he was hurt, that’s never nice,” Rune told Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman. “Frances is a great player especially in America, he plays very well. I had to be ready and I was….
“I stayed in there I tried to focus on more details I’ve been working on in my game rather than the big picture. I accept maybe it’s gonna take a little time, but I just kept fighting.”
Today’s retirement means the 27-year-old Tiafoe falls from the Top 15 to No. 17 in the live rankings. Tiafoe’s back issue will be a concern ahead of the US Open, which starts on August 24th.
Tiafoe, who reached quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Washington, DC, is facing the added pressure of defending semifinal ranking points from the 2024 US Open.
