Rinderknech: "Tiafoe had an advantage in the 5th set".
Arthur Rinderknech faced Frances Tiafoe in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.
Trailing two sets to nil, he managed to claw his way back to within two sets, but unfortunately for him, he lost in the final set.
In comments reported by L'Équipe, he expressed his disappointment: "In the fifth set, I told myself that I just had to keep playing physical, keep up my intensity, keep attacking.
I didn't show it like he did (Tiafoe had vomited), but I wasn't at my physical best at the time either.
From the middle of the fourth set onwards, I started to cramp up, but I hung in there and did the best I could.
He played with his experience, and the referee let him play with his experience.
Which is pretty hard for me to accept today too. For me, that fifth set was quite scandalous on the part of the referee.
It's part of the game, and he took advantage of it. He's a guy who's been top 10, top 20 for years and years, who's made semis in Grand Slams.
He used his experience and managed to draw on it.
He sabotaged the fifth set a bit, the referee let him, and the fifth set was a bit disjointed for me. Once again, he was clutch on the points to take, bravo to him.
Today, for me, it was clear that he had an advantage in the fifth set. Will I lose the match because of that? Probably not.
Would it have been fairer in the fifth if we'd been refereed fairly? Probably yes. Would I have won? Maybe not."
Australian Open 
