Fritz Survives Hanfmann Scare, Tiafoe & Raonic Advance At Wimbledon

Ninth seed Taylor Fritz finally booked his spot in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday when he overcame Yannick Hanfmann in a five-set thriller that began on Monday.

After coming off for bad light with Fritz leading 3-2 in the fifth set on Monday night, the American and his German opponent had to wait until Wednesday to complete their clash due to rain. Competing on Court 2, Fritz came out firing upon the restart, gaining a quick break to advance 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 after three hours and one minute.

“It is great. I am going to have to come back and play tomorrow. It rained all day yesterday and off and on today, so I really just wanted to get on court and play,” Fritz said. “I am glad I can just focus on the next match.”

With his 30th tour-level win of the season, Fritz avenged his defeat against Hanfmann in Rome in May. The 25-year-old, who struck 42 winners and broke the German four times, will next meet Mikael Ymer after the Swede beat Alex Molcan 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Fritz has fond memories at Wimbledon, having advanced to the quarter-finals in 2022 when he pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets. His best result this season was a run to his fifth tour-level title in Delray Beach.

Fritz’s countryman Frances Tiafoe also advanced, defeating China’s Wu Yibing 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4.

Tiafoe, who won his first grass-court title in June in Stuttgart, showcased his variety against Wu. He used his slice to disrupt the World No. 62’s rhythm and was sharp around the net to reach the second round for the fifth time.

The 10th seed will next meet #NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker or Alexei Popyrin.

Competing at The Championships for the first time since 2019, Milos Raonic made a winning return when he downed Dennis Novak 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-1.

The big-serving Canadian thundered 27 aces and saved both break points he faced to clinch his second tour-level win since returning last month. The former World No. 3 Raonic also earned a first-round win in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

The 32-year-old, who reached the title match at SW19 in 2016 (l. to Murray), will next meet 16th seed Tommy Paul or Shintaro Mochizuki.

Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the second round in a rain-disrupted Wednesday, beating Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.