US beaten in Davis Cup finals as Tiafoe lose again

Split: Frances Tiafoe was beaten for the second straight time in the Davis Cup Finals, with his latest defeat on Thursday coming after a code violation on match point for smashing his racket into the ground following a disagreement with the chair umpire.

Tiafoe’s 6-3, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2) loss to Tallon Griekspoor helped give the Netherlands a 2-1 victory over the United States in Group D in Split.

Tiafoe was upset because he wanted to replay a point following a challenge. He unsuccessfully argued with the umpire and the match referee, then returned to the court and smashed his racket four times, leading to his second code violation and the loss of a point. It resulted in the end of the match, as he was losing 6-2 in the tiebreaker.

“The end of the match is super unfortunate. A lot transpired there at the end with the call there at 5-2,” Tiafoe said. “Obviously I could have responded in a better way but emotions are flying, I’m competing for my country, I really want to win. Broke a racquet there and I forgot I had a code violation earlier in the match, match is over. I gave it my all. It’s been a tough stretch for me over here in Croatia.”

Botic Van de Zandschulp had beaten Tommy Paul 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the opening singles match. The U.S. later won the doubles with Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram defeating Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-3.

Tiafoe, who reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open earlier this month, had lost to Croatian Borna Gojo on Wednesday in a tie the Americans won 2-1.

The Netherlands had opened with a win against Finland and now lead the group.

Defending champion Canada earlier defeated Sweden 3-0 to take the lead in Group A.

Gabriel Diallo secured the Canadians the point with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Elias Ymer. Vasek Pospisil had given Canada a 1-0 lead by defeating Leo Borg 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2. Borg is the son of 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg.