Australian Open: Kevin Anderson knocked out by Frances Tiafoe
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Frances Tiafoe's previous best Grand Slam performance was his third-round appearance at Wimbledon in 2018
Australian Open 2019 |
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Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-27 January |
Coverage: Daily live commentaries on the BBC Sport website, listen to Tennis Breakfast daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and watch highlights on BBC TV and online from 19 January. |
Fifth seed Kevin Anderson is out of the Australian Open after being beaten in four sets by American Frances Tiafoe.
Anderson, who reached the final at Wimbledon in 2018, took the first set 6-4 but his 20-year-old opponent fought back to take the next three 6-4 6-4 7-5 and seal a place in the third round.
World number 39 Tiafoe had never previously progressed beyond the second round in Melbourne.
Elsewhere, Marin Cilic beat Mackenzie McDonald 7-5 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-4.
The Croatian sixth seed was pushed hard in the early stages of the match but his class eventually showed against the 23-year-old American.
Cilic will play Spaniard Fernando Verdasco next, while Tiafoe's reward for his shock win is a match against Italy's Andreas Seppi, who earlier beat home player Jordan Thompson in straight sets.
"It means the world to me," said Tiafoe, speaking on court after his victory. "I lost to Kevin three times last year.
"I would love to get to the second week of a Slam and if you guys get behind me like you did again, then it's going to be pretty easy for me."
Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat Britain's Andy Murray in the first round, had to dig deep again to beat Australia's John Millman.
The Spanish 22nd seed eventually won 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 in three hours 48 minutes.
Also through is Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3 2-6 6-2 7-5. He plays Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili next.
Czech Tomas Berdych, whose 2018 season was disrupted by injury, raced past Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-1 6-3 6-3.
American Reilly Opelka, who stunned ninth seed John Isner in the first round, hit 67 aces but lost 6-7 (15-17) 6-2 6-4 3-6 7-6 (10-5) to Thomas Fabbiano.