Tiafoe on Shelton Clash: “Tomorrow there’s no friends”

By Chris Oddo | Thursday July 24, 2025

Americans took center stage on Thursday at the Citi Open in Washington, DC, and they will stay in the spotlight again on Friday thanks to victories by Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Brandon Nakashima in round of 16 action. 

All four moved into the quarterfinals with straight-set victories on a balmy day at the ATP 500 event, with hometown favorite Tiafoe setting an All-American clash with Ben Shelton in what will be Friday’s heavily anticipated night session opener. 

Tiafoe, who grew up in the Washington, DC area and famously trained at the JTCC [Junior Tennis Champions Center] in College Park, Maryland, dominated Wimbledon quarterfinalist Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-4 to reach his fourth consecutive quarterfinal at the event. 

The 26-year-old is one of five players to have reached the quarterfinals in four successive seasons. 

He’ll face Shelton, who got past Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-3, 6-2, for the fourth time. Shelton took the first two in his head to head with Tiafoe but couldn’t get past Tiafoe at the US Open in their last meeting. 

“He’s a great player, a great friend of mine,” Tiafoe said of his friend and rival. “Laver Cups, Davis Cups. We talk to each other outside of the game, we hang out outside of the game. I love that dude, but tomorrow obviously there’s no friends. We’re going to try to cut each other’s heads off, and the crowd’s going to love it. I’m going to love the competition, and I hope to get over the line.”

Top-ranked American Taylor Fritz had to work extremely hard to clear Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets, but he played the big points better and got it done, 6-3 6-4, to set a quarterfinal with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain. 

Fritz won what might have been the point of the day early in the second set against Arnaldi, converting this tweener, and eventually he would break in the same game and hold the rest of the way for his 6-3, 6-4 win. 

Davidovich Fokina took out the only unsuccessful American on Thursday, as he got past 19-year-old Learner Tien, 6-2, 6-2. 

Early in the day Brandon Nakashima took his place in the quarterfinals with a 7-6(3) 6-3 win over Cameron Norrie – he’ll face Alex De Minaur on Friday.