Visibly ill Francis Tiafoe walked off court to throw up and considered quitting brutal Australian Open match

Frances Tiafoe’s Australian Open nearly ended in disaster.

The American came out on top in a four hour five-set thriller but was close to quitting in the fourth.

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Tiafoe is through to the second-round of the Australian Open by overcoming Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

It was not all smooth-sailing for the American, who looked to be cruising through his first-round match when taking the first two sets.

Tiafoe went on to lose back-to-back sets, including one he was 5-2 up in as the No.17 seed could not close out the match when it was time to serve as he body began breaking down.

The American threw up on court and suffered a series of cramps, with Tiafoe admitted he was close to retiring.

“Honestly, when I threw up, I felt like, returning 5-6, I could be out of here in two minutes, out of here in five minutes,” he said following his win.

Any other tournament, I would have pulled out but it’s a Slam. I’m in the second part of my career and these are the tournaments I care about the most. Whatever it takes.”

The two-time US Open semifinalist pointed to being over-hydrated as one of the causes of his sickness.

“I threw up all electrolytes and water. Wasn’t like food in the tank was the issue. Neither was the heat, really,” he said.

“Look, man, things happen. It’s been funny all the things I’ve been getting tagged with since then.”

When asked about his recovery during his post-match press conference, he said: “Horrible. It’s been terrible.”

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A staff member had to clean Tiafoe’s on-court vomit[/caption]

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AFP

Tiafoe’s pain would have been helped by the fact the Washington Commanders won their play-offtime with the American giving them a shout-out following his own win.

“Shoutout Jayden Daniels, shout-out my man Terr McLaurin,” Tiafoe excitedly said in his courtside interview.

“Let’s not have these Eagles fly man, let’s get them out of here, too.”

The American will be hoping him and the Commanders can make a deep run in their respective tournaments.

Tiafoe has not reached the second-week of the Australian Open since 2019, when he reached the quarter-finals after wins over No.5 seed Kevin Anderson and No.20 seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Tiafoe’s win sees him set up a match-up with Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, who also overcame a tough five-setter.