Frances Tiafoe found himself two sets away from reaching the third round of the Wimbledon Championships.
On Wednesday the 27-year-old took on Britain’s Cam Norrie and he was in control of the contest after taking the first set.
The American has not been past the fourth round at the All-England club, but he seemed to be moving one step closer to equalling that feat.
But a resurgent Norrie dug deep to turn the match on its head and proceed to win in four sets and advance to the next round as the home crowd cheered him on.
Francis Tiafoe explains how he lost to Cam Norrie at the Wimbledon Championships
Francis Tiafoe played just one match on grass in the buildup to Wimbledon. He showed no signs of a lack of matches on the surface when he defeated Elmer Møller 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round.
He made a promising start against Norrie in the opening round, but the turning point came in the latter stage of the second set which Tiafoe lost. Norrie gained confidence from that point forward and Tiafoe was unable to recover as he lost 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 5-7.
Explaining what turned the match in Norrie’s favour, Tiafoe said: “It was the 4-4 game, 0-40 – there were two shots I had an open space where I picked them and he guessed right, I didn’t make either of them.
“I think that was a huge turning point. I then got broken in the following game. I thought his intensity and belief went much higher and he played much better. I didn’t play as aggressive after that but he played much better.
“I thought it was a really, really big turning point. 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 the match a lot.
“After I get broken at 5-4 and you find yourself an early break down in the third and you’re like wow this could have gone totally different. It definitely stays with you but you turn to move on.”
What did Francis Tiafoe find annoying about playing Cam Norrie at Wimbledon?
Norrie levelled his head-to-head record with Tiafoe at two wins apiece following his victory at Wimbledon.
He claimed just one match win on grass before competing at SW19, but he managed to win his opening match against Queen’s semi-finalist and Mallorca quarter-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut.
His four-set win against Tiafoe came on the back of excellent serving, which caused Tiafoe plenty of problems.
“I don’t think he has served that well in a really long time. He was serving at 75, something stupid per cent. I hardly got a look at the second serve,” the ATP’s world number 12 said.
“I was trying to move around a little bit but I was shocked at how well he served today. I have never seen him serve like that.”
