Tiafoe, Fritz come of age via wins
Americans oust Anderson, Monfils to reach round of 32
MELBOURNE, Australia — 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, the 20-year-old came back to stun two-time Grand Slam runner-up and No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 Wednesday in the Australian Open’s second round.
“I went to a different place. I dug insanely deep,” the 39thranked Tiafoe said. “It’s just about how badly you want it. I want it real bad.”
Tiafoe, 20, grew up in the Washington area and occasionally played junior tournaments in Newport News. He was joined in the round of 32 by another kid from the U.S. who’d never been that far at Melbourne Park, 21-year-old Taylor Fritz, who saved 12 of the 13 break points he faced while dispatching No. 30 seed Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5).
Next for Fritz is a matchup against Roger Federer, the twotime defending champion in Australia and owner of 20 Grand Slam titles.
“I can’t tell you how many times I watched Monfils’ highlight reel on YouTube, just growing up. Fed, obviously, my whole life growing up, he was always the best,” Fritz said. “So it’s really cool being able to step on the court with him again.”
A day after American men went 1-5, the country’s contingent produced those two upsets and threw a couple of scares into other seeded players, too, but lost.
Mackenzie McDonald pushed No. 6 Marin Cilic before losing 7-5, 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, 6-4, and Northern Virginia native Denis Kudla rallied his way to a fifth set before bowing out 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 against No. 18 Diego Schwartzman. Reilly Opelka, a 21-year-old who eliminated No. 9 John Isner in an all-U.S. firstround showdown, held a 67-2 ace advantage — and a 15-inch height advantage — against Thomas Fabbiano but lost to the Italian 6-7 (15-17), 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-5).
“This group (of Americans) really deserves the hype, I guess, because I think everyone’s good,” Fritz said.
Federer, seeking a record seventh Australian Open title and third in a row, beat Dan Evans 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal set up a third-round showdown against 19-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur with a straight-sets victory of his own.
“I couldn’t pull away early in the match,” said Federer, who actually was two points from dropping the opening set.
The defending women’s champion, Caroline Wozniacki, beat Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-3, and will face Maria Sharapova next.
Three-time major champion Angelique Kerber won 6-2, 6-3 over qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia. No. 5 Sloane Stephens won 6-3, 6-1 over her junior doubles partner, Timea Babos.
Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2014.
“I’m kind of conquering all the places where I’ve been terrible,” Stephens said.
Four seeded women were sent home, including No. 24 Lesia Tsurenko, a 6-0, 6-2 loser against 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova. No. 9 Kiki Bertens, No. 20 Anett Kontaveit and No. 29 Donna Vekic also exited.