Frances Tiafoe booked his place in the second round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory.
Tiafoe, who is working with a new coach, Mark Kovacs, beat Jason Kubler 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance and set up a meeting with Argentinian star Francisco Comesana.
The 27-year-old, still in pursuit of his first Grand Slam title, is one of the few Americans who have come close to ending the country’s drought in men’s singles at majors.
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Andy Roddick was the last US men’s player to hoist a Grand Slam singles trophy, doing so in 2003 when he won the US Open.
After his victory over Kubler, Tiafoe was asked in his post-match press conference if he still feels pressure to end the American dry spell.
Frances Tiafoe says he does not feel pressure to end US drought
“No, not at all,” he responded. “But again, I still don’t think it’s a pressure thing. Again, I’ve played Ben [Shelton] in the quarters of a slam.
“Me and [Taylor] Fritz played in the semis. Fritz made a final. Ben made semis here. Like, Tommy [Paul] has made semis.
“You know, the last few years you have a couple of guys winning Grand Slams. Before that you had four guys winning Grand Slams. Again, it’s not a country thing.
“But again, we would love to, and I spend time with Andy, and Andy would love to not be in that topic of conversation, since Andy, since Andy, whatever.
“But we will see, man. It’s a great group. We all do a lot of great things. Hopefully, we can get it done.”
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Frances Tiafoe reacts to his opening win at the Australian Open
Reacting to his first-round win at the Australian Open, Tiafoe said: “Yeah, always feels good to get a first-round win obviously. More comfortable than I had it last year. Definitely take that.
“Tough first set. Got lucky. Saved a couple of set points. Yeah, overall, I liked the way I played. I thought it was a pretty decent first round for me, pretty good performance.”
Tiafoe was knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round last year, falling to Fabián Marozsan.
The former US Open semifinalist has never faced his next opponent, Comesana, at a tour-level event.
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