Frances Tiafoe is eyeing a return to the Top 50 for the first time in more than 18 months after a fighting opening-round win over Andy Murray at the Winston-Salem Open Tuesday night.

Coming into the ATP 250 tournament in North Carolina at No. 51 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Tiafoe saved three sets points on serve at 4-5 in the first set before taking command of the second set and running away to a 7-6(4), 6-3 win.

Tiafoe dropped out of the Top 50 in February 2019 after losing his quarter-final points from the 2019 Australian Open and has not been back. But a deep run at Winston-Salem should see him climb back into the elite group ahead of next week’s US Open.

Tiafoe will play the winner of Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro and American lucky loser Eduardo Nava.

Former World No. 1 Murray now heads to the US Open, where he won the first of his three Grand Slam titles in 2012.

“The positive thing is that I moved well and served well but my level is up and down with no real consistency,” Murray said. “There are moments in matches where I play well and then I make mistakes or miss returns. I wish I wasn’t doing that.

“My level is around 50 or 60 in the world. It’s frustrating because if wasn’t moving great and not feeling good physically then I would be a bit easier on myself. But when I’m winning a low percentage of second-serve points, that’s got nothing to do with the physical side of things.”