by Hanlon Walsh
No. 2 seed Frances Tiafoe headlines Thursday evening’s second-round action on Stadium Court as he begins his seventh career appearance at River Oaks. The 27-year-old American has built one of the most accomplished US Clay résumés in the 28-player field, dating back to his tournament debut in 2016.
Like top seed Tommy Paul, Houston played a pivotal role in Tiafoe’s early career. In 2017, he reached his first ATP final of any kind, finishing as the doubles runner-up alongside Dustin Brown.
Tiafoe has won seven of his last eight US Clay matches, hitting his clay-court stride in Houston over the past few years. In 2023, he ended a five-year title drought by defeating Tomás Martín Etcheverry to claim his second ATP singles title. Last year, he reached the final again before falling to Ben Shelton in a three-set championship match.
His 2025 campaign begins against 25-year-old Australian Adam Walton, a former NCAA doubles champion for the University of Tennessee.
Four Americans Fight for Three Quarterfinal Spots
In addition to Tiafoe, American players feature in every match on Thursday’s Stadium Court lineup. Fourth seed Brandon Nakashima opens his tournament against familiar friend and foe, Mackenzie McDonald. Although Nakashima is the higher seed, McDonald leads their head-to-head 4-0.
The catch? All of McDonald’s wins have come on outdoor hard courts. While neither player favors clay, Nakashima holds a stronger record on the surface and arrives in Houston at a career-high ranking of No. 32. A US Clay quarterfinalist last year, he looks to match that result with a win on Thursday. McDonald, 1-3 at River Oaks, seeks his first quarterfinal appearance here.
Following their all-American clash, No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori takes on American Christopher Eubanks. Nishikori, a former world No. 4 and the 2011 US Clay finalist, is making his first Houston appearance in 14 years. Eubanks, meanwhile, has just two career clay-court wins—one of which came Tuesday—and is aiming for his first ATP quarterfinal on the surface. This will be the first meeting between the two.
Closing out the night session, 20-year-old Alex Michelsen, the No. 5 seed, faces French veteran and lucky loser Adrian Mannarino. Though still new to clay, Michelsen enters this match with confidence after a commanding straight-set win over fellow Next Gen standout Learner Tien on Monday. The two players are tied 1-1 in their previous meetings, both of which took place on grass.
Doubles Take: American Olympic Stars Eye Semifinals
Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, the 2024 Olympic silver medalists in doubles for Team USA, will play for a spot in the semifinals during Thursday’s opening match at noon on Stadium Court. Despite their major championship pedigrees and former world No. 1 rankings, neither has advanced beyond the US Clay semifinals in previous attempts.
They’ll face Argentina’s Federico Agustín Gómez and Mexico’s Santiago González. Gonzalez himself is a 2019 US Clay champion and 2016 US Clay finalist who owns nine ATP titles on clay, the most of any doubles player in the field.
Meanwhile, in the lone match on Court 3, American duo Ryan Seggerman and Patrick Trhac will take on Australia’s John-Patrick Smith and Brazil’s Fernando Romboli at 4 p.m.
