Australian Open 2025: Frances Tiafoe throws up on court during 1st-round five-setter win, ‘would have let it go if….’ | Tennis News
Seventeenth seed Frances Tiafoe on Monday endured a tough initiation to his Australian Open campaign in sultry conditoons at Melbourne Park. The 26-year-old American battled his physical state and even threw up on court before he fended off a see-sawing first-round contest against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.
Tiafoe’s afternoon could have gotten a whole lot lighter if he had managed to build on his 6-5 lead in the fourth set before the break helped his opponent level the contest before the decisive fifth set. While the temperature was about 80 degrees and it was sunny on Monday — a stark contrast to the thunderstorm that delayed play for more than six hours Sunday — Tiafoe curiously said the heat was not the issue for him during a match that began at 11 a.m. He rather felt he was over-hydrated on court. “It’s a tough time. … I feel like it’s really tough to prepare,” Tiafoe said.
Frances Tiafoe throwing up on court in the 4th set in his 1st round match against Rinderknecht pic.twitter.com/4Srf6opHKg
— asud (@asud683385) January 13, 2025
“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.”
Giving up in Melbourne was not an option for Tiafoe who burst into the spotlight after trumping the legendary Rafael Nadal in the 2019 quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Tiafoe has since made the semi-final of his home Grand Slam at the U.S. Open twice in 2022 and 2024.
“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.”
– With AP inputs
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