Forehands, backhands, volleys: Tomas Machac does it all to oust Frances Tiafoe at Aussie Open

After Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton advanced at the Australian Open Wednesday, Frances Tiafoe hoped to join his countrymen and fellow Top 20 competitors in the third round.

It did not come to fruition for the No. 17 seed, who was simply outplayed on the day.

Tomas Machac delivered a superb performance to eliminate Tiafoe, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5). The effort sends the 23-year-old through to the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time in seven-main draw appearances.

Machac emerged as the superior hitter in the contest, blasting 24 more winners than unforced errors, using his rock-solid backhand to dictate from the baseline and assertively engaging in forehand to forehand exchanges. He succeeded in forcing the issue when getting himself into closing positions at net and avoided fewer pressure moments on his serve.

That’s not to say Tiafoe didn’t have chances to make the contest more competitive, though he never managed to grab a firm grip of the encounter for any period of consequence.

After getting back on serve for 4-4 in the second, he was broken in a 14-point game that began with a 40-0 lead. He served for the third set at 5-3, only to see Machac immediately respond with a re-break.

In the tiebreaker, Machac’s wheels put on a show in taking a 3-1 lead thanks to an electric sliding forehand passing shot winner. A surprising unforced error off his backhand side allowed Tiafoe to level for 3-3, but another fine display at the net pushed the Czech back in front two points later. Having saved a match point with a winning forehand, the American sailed that shot long on the next point to officially bow out.

Tiafoe’s drought of week two appearances at Melbourne Park now stands at five years dating back to his maiden major quarterfinal run in 2019. Machac celebrated his first Top 20 victory.

The world No. 75 will get another crack at a player with previous success here. Karen Khachanov, a semifinalist last year, also took down a U.S. hopeful. The No. 15 seed ended the run of qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in exactly two and a half hours.

Fritz and Shelton respectively defeated Hugo Gaston and Christopher O’Connell.