HYATTSVILLE, Md. — French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas has been upset in the first round at Wimbledon by Hyattsville, Maryland, native Frances Tiafoe of the United States.
The 57th-ranked Tiafoe applied pressure by charging the net often and won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. He had been 0-11 previously against players ranked in the top five.
Tiafoe won 24 points at the net and saved all seven break points he faced.
Tsitsipas was seeded third and had won more matches than any other player on the men’s tour this year. He reached his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros this month before squandering a two-set lead in the final against Novak Djokovic.
Tsitsipas lost in the first round at Wimbledon for the third time in four appearances.
Tiafoe, 23, has found success on the court recently. In September 2020, he was the only American male left in the U.S. Open by the fourth round of play. The only other time he made it past the third round in 17 Grand Slam appearances was when he got to the quarterfinals at the 2019 Australian Open.
"In my prime," Tiafoe said to WUSA9 after his performance at the Australian Open. "Every time I walk into a slam, I'm there to hopefully contest to win it. I want to be in the top five, leading American tennis, and just being that dude."
Tiafoe spent his junior tennis years at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland. And has gone back to mentor young players and train with those who helped him as a junior player.
In 2018, Tiafoe won his first ATP title at the 2018 Delray Beach Open.
Taifoe has also been a voice in the social and racial justice movement that sparked nationwide attention this summer after the death of George Floyd in May 2020. The young tennis player has voiced his desire to see more young Black tennis players be a part of the game.