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.
