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Maryland native Tiafoe stuns No. 3 seed Tsitsipas at Wimbledon initially appeared on NBC Sports Washington
An American has simply accomplished a colossal upset at tennis’ most prestigious event.
Frances Tiafoe went into his first-round Wimbledon matchup in opposition to Stefanos Tsitsipas, the occasion’s No. 3 seed and runner-up on the French Open earlier this month, as an enormous underdog.
On condition that the Greek celebrity has moved as much as No. 4 within the newest world tennis rankings, led Novak Djokovic two units to none within the championship closing at Roland Garros and was a semifinalist on the Australian Open in February, you possibly can perceive why.
However in two hours and two minutes, Tiafoe did what many thought a herculean job and defeated Tsitsipas in straight units, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. He’ll transfer on to face the winner of Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) vs. Vasek Pospisil (CAN) within the second spherical on Wednesday.
Tiafoe managed the tempo of play from starting to finish, notably returning dozens of Tsitsipas’ rocket-powered serves with poise and precision. Tiafoe, 23, earned his first ever win over a top-5 opponent in his profession.
“Frances, many congratulations. A straight-sets win over Stefanos Tsitsipas to kick issues off at Wimbledon—how good does that sound to you?” he was requested within the post-match interview.
“Yeah, it sounds fairly rattling good.”
Born in Hyattsville, Md., Tiafoe’s Wimbledon triumph is the most recent of what has been a exceptional story for the 23-year-old. He’s the son of two Sierra Leonean immigrants who fled their house nation to flee civil struggle within the mid-Nineteen Nineties. Tiafoe’s father started working as a building employee on the School Park Junior Tennis Championships Heart (JTCC) in 1999, shortly after Frances was born, and finally grew to become the custodian. He was given a spare workplace that doubled as a bed room for his kids.
Frances used his household’s distinctive circumstances to play tennis all day, day-after-day. Nineteen years later, Tiafoe shocked the tennis world by defeating a participant many picked to succeed in one other Grand Slam closing.
“Positively one among my finest [performances]. I imply, I used to be from begin to end fairly clear,” Tiafoe mentioned on the post-match interview broadcast on ESPN. “In the event you don’t need to play in opposition to the very best gamers on this planet, in the very best atmospheres on this planet…that is what you prepare for. That is what it’s all about and I dwell for these sort of moments…I really like this and enjoying in entrance of you guys, making an attempt to make one thing good occur.”
Tiafoe’s finest Wimbledon efficiency thus far was when he misplaced within the third spherical in 2018. His finest main look got here on the 2019 Australian Open, the place he misplaced to Rafael Nadal in straight units within the quarterfinals.
Tsitsipas, in the meantime, should head house early from Wimbledon 2021, a surprising loss given how shut he got here to his first Grand Slam title in Paris. Tsitsipas, 22, gave world No. 1 Djokovic fairly a scare within the closing there earlier than fading in a five-set loss.
Tiafoe’s win will advance the American to the second spherical of Wimbledon for the third time in his profession.
“Clearly, you realize, I’m not even near the place I need to be. I’ve had a number of nice achievements however haven’t even scratched the floor, I really feel personally,” Tiafoe mentioned. “Immediately was large. I positively wanted that with a man of [Tsitsipas’] stage. That man’s particular. He’s gonna do a number of nice issues and win a ton of Grand Slams, however … not at present.”
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