"Whatever it takes": Frances Tiafoe overcomes cramps, puking to survive Australian Open decider

Frances Tiafoe looked to be smooth sailing through his first-round match at the Australian Open Monday afternoon, until he wasn’t.

Once leading Arthur Rinderknech by two sets, the No. 17 seed found himself in a decider after a testing turn of events. Up 5-2 in the fourth set, Tiafoe couldn’t close out the Frenchman when it came time to serve for the contest, before his body began breaking down.

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Any other tournament, I would have pulled out but it’s a Slam. I’m in the second part of my career and these are the tournaments I care about the most. Frances Tiafoe

Having thrown up on the court and compromised by cramps, Tiafoe opted to fight through it. By the end, he was rewarded with a 7-6 (2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3 victory. If it wasn’t for the stakes of the tournament, Tiafoe wouldn’t have willed himself across the line.

“Loose game there, 5-3. Brought it back to deuce and wasn’t able to convert. Obviously tired but feeling fine. Then get the line and puke. I have some ab cramps during that, then I’m cramping all over the place,” Tiafoe told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs.

“He plays a pretty good breaker. Any other tournament, I would have pulled out but it’s a Slam. I’m in the second part of my career and these are the tournaments I care about the most. Whatever it takes.”

During the fifth set, Tiafoe kept points as short as possible by serving and volley, pulling out the drop shot and focusing his energy on holding serve. He broke at love to move ahead 3-2, then engineered a surprise double break in the final game of the contest with Rinderknech initially opening a 30-0 lead.

“I really loosened up. At 5-3, I just didn’t care at all. I thought he was going to hold,” said Tiafoe, who was making his debut wearing Lululemon. “Played some good points. He got a little tight there, I got lucky. That’s a big win.”

A two-time semifinalist at the US Open, the Hyattsville, Md. native produced his first major breakthrough here at Melbourne Park six years ago when he advanced to the last eight with wins over No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson and No. 20 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Tiafoe hasn’t returned to the second week of the Happy Slam since that run, having bowed out to Tomas Machac in the second round last year when he was also seeded 17th.