American Tiafoe rides serve into third round, Fritz crashes out

LONDON :Frances Tiafoe hailed his improved serve after sending down 23 aces to win 7-6(11) 6-4 6-2 and blow away the second-round challenge of Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker at Wimbledon on Thursday but fellow American Taylor Fritz was eliminated.

Tenth seed Tiafoe, who is into the third round at the grasscourt Grand Slam for a third straight time, served with consistent precision and won 89 per cent of his first serve points, leaving precious few opportunities for his 20-year-old opponent.

Asked what aspect of his game he had worked on the most in the past year, Tiafoe told reporters: "My serve. My serve is the biggest difference. Just getting myself out of trouble.

"Ace counts high. Sometimes my percentage is not high but ace count's always been pretty good. That's been something that's been helping me a lot."

Tiafoe was slightly wasteful in the first set, squandering two break points at 1-0 and a set point at 5-4, as the opener drifted to a tiebreak which he won after saving four set points.

"I didn't play great in the first set ... I think that first set was huge. I loosened up a lot. I started swinging more out on the ball, moving him around a bit more," Tiafoe said.

The second set was more straightforward but it was not all smooth sailing for the American.

He was inches away from being broken in the third set but expertly bailed himself out of a sticky situation by firing off another ace before breaking Stricker at 2-2 with a backhand winner, earning the applause of a limited crowd on Court 12.

Tiafoe will next face Bulgarian 21st seed Grigor Dimitrov.

"Now is when it starts getting interesting. Everybody is good. Everyone is tough," said Tiafoe, who is looking to become the first American men's Grand Slam champion