MELBOURNE, Australia – Frances Tiafoe rolled up his white shirt’s right sleeve, flexed his biceps and slapped the muscle five times. Then he pounded his chest and yelled, “Yeah! Let’s go! Let’s go! Come on!”
Down a set and 3-0 in the second, the 20-year-old Tiafoe came back to stun two-time Grand Slam finalist and No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 at the Australian Open Tuesday.
Another 20-something from the US threw a scare into another older, more-accomplished top-10 foe, but Mackenzie McDonald couldn’t match Tiafoe’s upset, losing to No. 6 Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4.
Roger Federer, seeking a record seventh Australian Open title and third in a row, reached the third round by beating Dan Evans 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Other seeded men advancing in the afternoon included No. 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 18 Diego Schwartzman, who edged Denis Kudla of the US 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (6), 6-4, and No. 26 Fernando Verdasco.