There were contrasting fortunes for the two Top 10 American men’s singles seeds on Thursday at Wimbledon. Frances Tiafoe, seeded 10th, earned his second straight-sets win in as many days with a 7-6(11), 6-4, 6-2 result against Dominic Stricker. Moments before, Mikael Ymer put the finishing touches on a comeback to upset ninth seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Tiafoe, who beat Wu Yibing on Wednesday to begin his campaign, continued his strong form to advance to the third round for the fifth straight time at a major. After saving four set points in a marathon opening tie-break, the American dominated the final two sets.
“That first [set] was everything,” Tiafoe said post-match, speaking to James Blake on ESPN. “I wasn’t playing my best in the first, but was serving well. I had a bunch of aces today, so I think that was the difference. And then experience, I think that was the biggest thing probably, especially in that first set. I loosened up quite a lot after that.”
[BREAK POINT]
The 25-year-old, a US Open semi-finalist last season, saved all four break points he faced and fired 23 aces in the victory. He will next meet 21st seed Grigor Dimitrov, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 winner against Ilya Ivashka.
“I have a tonne of belief that I can be here deep in the second week and really contend for this thing,” added Tiafoe, who said he would relish a showdown against Bulgaria’s Dimitrov. “I’m just getting the proper rest and being a pro’s pro, and hopefully the stars align.”
Ymer trailed Fritz by two sets and a break but stormed back to advance to the Wimbledon third round for the first time. After he dropped serve at the start of set three, the Swede saved the only two further break points he faced, at 3-3 in the third set and at 0-1 in the fifth.
The 24-year-old, who broke into the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time this April, has been in the third round at a major twice before, at Roland Garros in 2021 and 2022. He will bid for his first fourth-round appearance when he takes on Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan, who beat Oscar Otte 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) earlier on Thursday.
Impressive comeback 👏@MikaelYmer from two sets down defeats Fritz 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2! @Wimbledon | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/amAJM0pIbh
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 6, 2023
Tommy Paul, the 16th seed and No. 3 American, joined Tiafoe in the third round with a 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-4 victory against Milos Raonic. After failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the third set, and then missing out on two match points on return at 5-4, Paul saved a break point early in the fourth set before securing the decisive break.
Paul won 16 straight points on serve in the fourth, including three love holds from 2-1, and ultimately served out the win from 15/30 in the final game.
The other American seed, Ben Shelton, was knocked out in four sets by Laslo Djere. After marking his Wimbledon debut with a five-set win against Taro Daniel, the 32nd-seeded Shelton was turned back by Laso Djere, who advanced with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory.
Both men saved nine break points, but Djere broke three times to Shelton’s two. The crucial third-set tie-break was decided when Shelton floated a would-be winner just long on the dead run, his challenge unsuccessful. Serbis’s Djere now awaits the winner of the Centre Court showdown between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray.