The sun set on Jan Choinski’s latest Wimbledon adventure after he failed to build on a strong start against 17th seed Frances Tiafoe and lost in four sets.
An excellent grass court campaign for Choinski moved him into the top 100 ahead of his third Championships and made him British number two, but he became the penultimate home player to exit in the singles in SW19 after a 4-6 6-2 7-5 6-2 loss.
Choinski created 11 break point chances in the first set, but only fashioned one more across the rest of the match and struggled to regain his composure after the sun appeared to get in his eyeline during a crucial moment at the end of the third set on Court Two.
“It’s always for both, right, but I just felt over the course of the third set and also like the fourth set… until the sun really settled lower, for me it was impossible to see,” Choinski said.
“On the deuce side, I was literally just looking at a black box. The sun was so low and right across in my eyes. It was impossible to play a rally.
“I don’t know if sunglasses would help, to be honest.
“It was a fun experience. Yeah, I felt like the crowd was great. It was a fun game. I enjoyed myself out there.”
Read more
-
Jacob Fearnley looks for positives after losing in Wimbledon second round
-
Danny Murphy gives update on missing cat Bob after viral World Cup clip
-
The Princess of Wales watches as Katie Swan is knocked out of Wimbledon
This was the first meeting in the professional ranks between Tiafoe and Choinski, but the world number 100 was quick to highlight a past junior tie following his first-round victory over Vit Kopriva.
Choinski had got the better of Tiafoe as a junior at the French Open in 2014 and immediately set about for a repeat result.
Two break point opportunities were squandered by Choinski in the first game of the match, which proved the pattern of set one.
A further eight break point chances would come and go before – on a sixth set point and at the 11th time of asking – the German-born home favourite broke Tiafoe after a wild forehand by his American rival.
Tiafoe returned the favour at the start of set two and another break followed as he levelled the contest, which then stayed on serve until the 11th game of the third set.
One break point passed Tiafoe by but he managed to outlast his opponent on the next and Choinski could not hide his frustration after he sent a backhand into the net.
Choinski pointed in the direction of the setting sun, which was now only in a small corner of Court Two, but with his focus affected, a double fault was followed by a wayward forehand to hand Tiafoe a decisive break at the start of set four.
Tiafoe never looked back as he progressed comfortably in his 39th consecutive grand slam.
