Ninth-seeded and 2022 quarterfinalist Taylor Fritz rallied from a set down to take a hard-fought — and delayed — 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann in a first-round match Wednesday at Wimbledon.
Fritz finished with 15 aces and staved off 9 of 13 break points to advance after three hours and one minute. The match resumed after getting postponed by darkness Monday night and then by rain on Tuesday.
Fritz was leading 3-2 in the fifth set when play finally resumed Wednesday. Fritz, who lost in last year’s quarterfinals, has a quick turnaround.
“It is great. I am going to have to come back and play tomorrow. It rained all day yesterday and off and on today, so I really just wanted to get on court and play,” Fritz said.
“I have never had to take two days in between, he added. “I’ve had to come back and finish the match the next day. Yeah, it’s tough to kind of just be sitting on that, thinking about it for like two days. You know, you’re potentially 15 minutes left in a match at the very end of it, and for it to be a Grand Slam, fifth set, it kind of adds to it.”
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev both won in straight sets. Djokovic won his 350th grand slam match over Aussie Jordan Thompson 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-5 to advance to the third round.
Djokovic becomes the third player to reach 350, joining Roger Federer (369) and Serena Williams (365).
“I don’t really know if I wanted to meet him this early in the tournament, but congratulations to him for a great performance today,” Djokovic said of Thompson. “He was a bit unlucky in the second set, he had some chances, but he played a great match. He deserves a big round of applause for sure.”
Medvedev, meanwhile, was playing his opening match of the fortnite, a 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 win over Brit Arthur Fery.
Fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece powered through for a 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8) win over Austrian Dominic Thiem in 3 hours and 56 minutes. Both players received a standing ovation at the end.
“It was pretty stressful, I won’t lie. It felt forever,” Tsitsipas said.
Next up for Tsitsipas is Britain’s own Andy Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champ.
“I’m not expecting anyone to support me,” Tsitsipas joked. “That court over there (Center) is like his living room. I hope we can play there. I’ve never played on Center. Let’s just pray for that.”
Sixth seed Holger Rune of Denmark, No. 8 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 10 Frances Tiafoe and No. 16 Tommy Paul all won their first-round matches in straight sets to advance.
Unseeded Guido Pella of Argentina bounced No. 13 Borna Coric of Croatia in five sets. Likewise, unseeded Russian Roman Safiullin ousted No. 20 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in four hours, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5.
Marton Fucsovics of Hungary beat countryman and No. 28 Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets. No. 21 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria rolled in straight sets while No. 26 Denis Shapovalov of Canada needed four sets to advance.
No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo won in four sets while No. 22 Sebastian Korda was sent home in the first round by Czech Jiri Vesely in four sets. No. 32 Ben Shelton won in five sets.
–Field Level Media
