Frances Tiafoe survives at Australian Open despite flu scare and vomiting multiple times on court

Frances Tiafoe was in real danger of going home as he faced the tough Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech while having flu and a vomiting bug which saw some grim scenes on court at the Australian Open.

Tiafoe won through 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3 against the Frenchman and he let two sets slip through his grasp. Speaking to ESPN afterwards, he said that if it was any other tournament he would've pulled out but also being in the second half of his career, he was willing to do anything to get over the line.

He appeared to be in full control of the match until his body completely gave up on him and he had to fight in the third and fourth set for his life. Not exactly ideal for the American.

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“Any other tournament I would've pulled out, but it's a Slam and I'm in the second part of my career and these are tournaments I care about the most and whatever it takes, I was ready to full body. And if that was what's going to be…if feeling like this and having to win, (I) have a day off and I'll be all right for Wednesday. But that makes a difference in good or great,” said Tiafoe.

But he also had his coach David Witt telling him to go one game at a time and this helped. “(He told me to) Stay in the present. Serve one game at a time. Don't think about the sixth about the game, think about the point ahead of you. I got a cheeky break there and I loosened up. I mean at 5-3 I just didn't care at all. I thought he was going to hold and put some good points. He got a little tight there and got lucky," he added.

“That’s a big win, that's a huge win. (From) feeling good and out of nowhere, feeling horrible and finding a way to win. That's massive.”

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