Tiafoe muscles his way to win
Frances Tiafoe rolled up his white shirt’s right sleeve, flexed his biceps and slapped the muscle five times. Then he pounded his chest and yelled, ‘‘Yeah! Let’s go! Let’s go! Come on!’’
Forgive the young American’s exuberance. This was, after all, the biggest victory of his nascent career.
Down a set and 3-0 in the second, the 20-year-old Tiafoe came back to stun two-time Grand Slam finalist and No 5 seed Kevin Anderson 4-6 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the Australian Open’s second round in Melbourne yesterday.
‘‘I went to a different place. I dug insanely deep,’’ the 39thranked Tiafoe said during an oncourt interview. ‘‘It’s all about competing. Guys are so good. It’s just about how badly you want it. I want it real bad.’’
It helped that Anderson’s best attribute, his intimidating serve, slowed down along the way because of problems with his right arm. Anderson was repeatedly visited by a trainer during changeovers and he lost about 5 mph (10kmh) on his first serves as the match wore on.
Anderson was the runner-up at Wimbledon last year and at the US Open in 2017 and had won all three previous matchups against Tiafoe.
Defeat Andreas Seppi of Italy next, and Tiafoe would make his debut in the second week of a grand slam.
He turns 21 on Monday and said: ‘‘If I’m playing on that day and beat somebody, that’s the best present I can get.’’
Another 20-something from the US threw a scare into another older, more accomplished top-10 foe, but Mackenzie McDonald couldn’t match Tiafoe’s upset, losing to No 6 Marin Cilic 7-5 6-7 (9) 6-4 6-4.
Cilic was the 2014 US Open champion and the runner-up at Melbourne Park to Roger Federer last year.
Federer, seeking a record seventh Australian Open title and third in a row, reached the third round by beating Dan Evans 7-6 (5) 7-6 (3) 6-3.
‘‘I couldn’t pull away early in the match,’’ said Federer, who was two points from dropping the opening set.
Other seeded men advancing included No 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No 18 Diego Schwartzman, who edged Denis Kudla (US) 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-7 (6) 6-4 and No 26 Fernando Verdasco.
Three seeded women were sent home, including No 24 Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, a 6-0 6-2 loser against 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova. No 9 Kiki Bertens and No 20 Anett Kontaveit also exited.
Fifth seed Sloane Stephens opened the day in Rod Laver Arena with a 6-3 6-1 win over her junior doubles partner Timea Babos.
Defending women’s champion, Caroline Wozniacki also won in straight sets, beating Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 6-1 6-3.