In the Round of 16 of this 2026 US Open, Valentin Vacherot had his work cut out for him facing one of the serious outsiders of the American Grand Slam, Frances Tiafoe. A match during which the Monegasque failed to find the key.
After a tournament start that was generally well controlled, Valentin Vacherot had an appointment for the third round tonight. Winner since the beginning of the week over American Aleksandar Kovacevic (28 years old, 84th in the world) in three sets and then Polish Kamil Majchrzak (30 years old, 73rd in the world) in four sets, the player from the Principality faced one of the big guns of this edition: Frances Tiafoe. The American, seeded No. 11 (28 years old, 12th in the world), was among the players to watch at this 2026 US Open. After narrowly defeating a young compatriot in the first round, Martin Damm, and then Japanese Rei Sakamoto in the second round, the Maryland player found an opponent of a completely different caliber in his path.
The two players had never faced each other on the circuit before and presented fairly similar playing profiles. This was felt on the court. Very strong on his serve, the home player quickly set the tone by attacking his opponent on his serve. It was difficult for Valentin Vacherot to find the solution on return against a player very difficult to read, capable of preparing his shots in record time. To hope to destabilize “BigFoe”, the Monegasque had to put a lot of volume into his game and above all ensure good service quality. An element that had sometimes let him down in the previous round and which once again worked against him at the start of the first set, lost 6-4.
Valentin Vacherot without a solution
Same thing in the second set where the opening games were more contested, due to an insufficiently consistent first serve on the Monegasque’s side. Frances Tiafoe didn’t hesitate to quickly get a break and take the lead. Very close to a double break, the player from the Principality finally regained momentum by showing his power to try to destabilize the American. Just when we thought he was back in the match, Valentin Vacherot was caught off guard once again at the worst possible moment. With his 19th unforced error in the second set (against just one on the other side), he conceded a third break offering a wide open road to Frances Tiafoe, in complete control during the pivotal periods: 6-2.
Boosted by his crowd who came in large numbers to the Louis Armstrong stadium despite the simultaneous presence of the Williams sisters’ doubles, Frances Tiafoe never really lost focus. Playing well at times, the Hyattsville native cruised when the match settled in. While Valentin Vacherot showed his pride by being more solid on his serve at the start of the third set, small inaccuracies — notably a few mistimed net approaches — eventually got the better of him. Falling back into his bad habits in the 7th game, Valentin Vacherot once again succumbed to the surgical precision of the No. 11 seed, firing on all cylinders late in the match.
The score is conclusive (6-4/6-2/6-4) in just under two hours for a Frances Tiafoe in full confidence, delivering a solid performance that confirms his rising form at this 2026 US Open. In the quarterfinals, he will face Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Now, Valentin Vacherot will have to focus fully on the Asian tour. A turning point that promises to be crucial in his season, with a large number of points to defend and a seeded status to try to preserve.
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