MELBOURNE, Australia — Frances Tiafoe threw up during his first-round match at the Australian Open along the way to a five-set victory and said afterward he might have quit if this had been just a run-of-the-mill tournament.
The 17th-seeded Tiafoe, who turns 27 in a week, managed to win the topsy-turvy match against Arthur Rinderknech of France 7-6 (2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in 4 hours, 8 minutes.
“If it was any other, probably, event, I probably would have let it go,” Tiafoe said about getting sick late in the fourth set. “But here, you got to lay it all on the line.”
His Grand Slam breakthrough came at Melbourne Park in 2019, when he made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Rafael Nadal.
Since then, Tiafoe has taken more steps forward, including making it all the way to the semifinals at the U.S. Open in 2022 and 2024.
While the temperature was about 80 degrees and it was sunny — a stark contrast to the thunderstorm that delayed play for more than six hours the previous day — Tiafoe said the heat was not the issue for him during a match that began at 11 a.m.
Instead, he said he probably was over-hydrated.
“It’s a tough time. ... I feel like it’s really tough to prepare,” Tiafoe said. “I’m happy I got through, happy everyone came out and enjoyed the four hours of tennis that was way longer than it should have been.”
