U.S. men fall in Miami: As Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe lose openers, Tommy Paul injures ankle

The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are well underway in the U.S. On Saturday, three familiar faces of American men’s tennis experienced their own ill-fated version of March Madness at the Miami Open.

Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe were ousted in their opening matches, while Tommy Paul exited with a concerning injury.

Fritz saw his Sunshine Double end at a 2-2 record after going out to Thiago Seyboth Wild. While the world No. 13 was playing on home soil, Seyboth Wild had plenty of support of his own in the stands. Feeding off the energy, the 24-year-old qualifier did not drop serve in a fairly routine 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The top-ranked American, Fritz was one of the players who pointed to the contrasting tennis balls used at Indian Wells and Miami being the hardest adjustment to make between the two events after being asked by TENNIS.com’s Stephanie Livaudais ahead of his encounter.

Paul, one place behind Fritz in the rankings, rolled his left ankle for the second time in as many events. Coming off a semifinal run at Indian Wells, the latest mishap looked more serious than when Paul initially hurt it during his three-set defeat to Daniil Medvedev last Saturday.

Leading 6-4, 1-2, the No. 13 seed rushed the net early in a point on his serve, only to come up hobbling. Paul nearly made it to his chair on the other side of the court but sat down in visible pain.

February’s Dallas Open champion did not play another point, sending Damm through to the third round. The 20-year-old celebrated his first ATP match win a round earlier when he eliminated Zhang Zhizhen in a pair of tiebreaks.

For a place in the round of 16, Damm meets Christopher O'Connell. The Australian knocked out No. 21 seed Frances Tiafoe, 7-5, 7-6 (5). 

Tiafoe, who dropped out of the Top 20 coming into this ATP Masters 1000 event, is now 2-4 since reaching the Delray Beach Open semifinals.