With the top players at the French Open dropping like flies, Frances Tiafoe narrowly avoided joining them. The No. 19-seeded American launched a successful comeback after going down early against Jaime Faria on Saturday, defeating him 4-6, 6(2)-7(7), 7(7)-6(4), 6-1, 6-2.

Faria took a two-set lead, outplaying Tiafoe early in the match. But then, Tiafoe clawed back to go the distance, forcing the third set into a tiebreaker and later winning to keep his tournament alive.

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Tiafoe then breezed through the fourth set, thanks to several costly mistakes from Faria, who had two key double faults to help Tiafoe regain momentum.

By the fifth set, Faria’s frustration was evident. As the game stretched past midnight local time, the Portuguese 22-year-old took a lengthy break to exchange words with Tiafoe, and later the chair umpire, who had to try to get the two players back on track.

“Why don’t you quit trying to act like you’re tough? You’re not hard bro, just play,” Tiafoe could be heard saying to Faria at the net.

At points, Tiafoe may have looked more exhausted than Faria, but the American outlasted Faria by winning the last four games straight and taking the match.

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Postgame, Tiafoe said that he felt “great” physically and admitted that “it wasn’t looking good there” earlier in the match, but his strategy came from breaking the serve wherever he could and outlasting Faria.

“By all means, you gotta break this game,” Tiafoe said of his strategy. “Hopefully, I can take his legs as the match went long, and that’s what I did.”

Despite his apparent struggles with fatigue and even potential injury, Tiafoe is one of the few favorites remaining on the men’s side of the tournament. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner fell to an unranked opponent on Thursday, with Novak Djokovic also suffering a stunning early upset on Friday. Ben Shelton, Tiafoe’s highest-ranked countryman, became the latest American to exit Roland-Garros with his own loss on Thursday.

Even the women’s side is seeing some early exits, with reigning champion Coco Gauff getting upset on Saturday.

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By finishing the job against Faria, Tiafoe will now face Matteo Arnaldi in the fourth round, with the hopes of returning to the French Open quarterfinals for the second year in a row. Tiafoe, 28, has never won a Grand Slam, with his further finishes being two semifinal appearances at the U.S. Open in 2022 and 2024.