LONDON :American Frances Tiafoe became yet another seeded casualty at Wimbledon on Wednesday but said no one should be surprised at the number of top names to depart in the men’s singles.
Thirteen of the top 32 men’s seeds failed to survive the first round this year – a Wimbledon record – and although Tiafoe managed to avoid that fate, he was then beaten 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5 by Britain’s 61st-ranked Cameron Norrie.
Tiafoe, twice a U.S. Open semi-finalist, said the depth in the men’s game now meant the days of being able to cruise through the early rounds of Grand Slams was over, adding that Wimbledon was especially treacherous.
“I mean, grass is a tricky surface. The game is getting much deeper. You have to think, not so long ago Cam (Norrie) made the semi-finals here, and now I’m playing him the second round,” the 27-year-old told reporters.
“You have floaters like that, and then you have some young guys playing well. The game is just really tough. It’s not like how it used to be where you can kind of, I mean, quote, unquote, get to your seedings (spot) easier.
“Now a lot of guys you don’t even know come out and play, and by the time you know it you find yourself battling deep in the fourth and fifth. The game has incredible depth right now.
“If you’re not ready to go, you’re going to lose.”
Tiafoe began superbly against home favourite Norrie on Court One, taking a tight opening set thanks to a single service break. The match turned, however, when he led 0-40 on Norrie’s serve at 4-4 in the second set but failed to convert.
On two of the three break points Tiafoe guessed the right way as Norrie looked to fire a put-away winner, but twice Tiafoe narrowly failed to land the ball in the open court.
“You see 4-4 and love 40, it was two shots I had in open space where I picked them, I guessed, right and didn’t make either of them,” said Tiafoe, who beat his racket against the court-side tarpaulins after the second one.
“I think that was a huge turning point. I think he broke in the following game. If I made one of those shots, he was not going to get to any of them, and I would have been serving for two sets to love up. It changed a lot.”
