Miami Open: Frances Tiafoe beats Nicolas Kicker in first round

Frances Tiafoe. Pic/AFP

Frances Tiafoe of the United States beat Argentina's Nicolas Kicker 6-4, 7-6(4) in the first round of the Miami Open tennis tournament. Tiafoe, aged 20 and ranked 63rd in the world, relied on his strong serve to dominate in the first set on Thursday, reports Efe news agency.

In the second set, Kicker broke Tiafoe's serve twice to lead 4-1, but the American fought back to bring the scores level at 5-5. Kicker lost a chance to win the set and was outplayed in the tie-break by Tiafoe, who took it 7-4 after initial resistance from the Argentinian.

Kicker, ranked 87th in the world, was the second player from Argentina to crash out of the tournament on Thursday after Horacio Zeballos was beaten by Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

Another Argentinian, Leonardo Mayer, managed to progress to the second round by beating Donald Young of the US 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Tiafoe will face 21st seed Kyle Edmund of the United Kingdom in the second round.

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