Roger Federer Earns Straight-Set Win vs. Taylor Fritz at 2019 Australian Open

Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open after he defeated unseeded 21-year-old American Taylor Fritz, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 on Friday (Australian Eastern Time) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

The victory marked the 18th time in 19 years that Federer has reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. The 20-time major winner has won the event six times, including in 2017 and 2018.

Fritz, who upset No. 30 Gael Monfils in his previous match, reached the third round of a major for the second consecutive time after having not done so in his first 12 attempts.

Federer set the tone in the first set when he defeated Fritz 6-2 in just 20 minutes. The 37-year-old won his first serve 12 of 13 times and only had two unforced errors.

Kurt Streeter of the New York Times explained why Federer dominated early:

Fritz, who had nine unforced errors in the first set, settled down in the second and nearly pushed Federer to a tiebreaker. With the set tied at five, however, Fritz had two unforced errors before Federer won break point after capping off a rally with a forehand winner:

Federer won an early break in the third set after he emerged on the right end of a 16-shot rally and cruised to a win. He will face No. 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday. The 20-year-old Greek defeated No. 19 Nikoloz Basilashvili to advance past the third round.

Federer and Tsitsipas have never faced each other. However, Tsitsipas was refreshingly honest when he made his feelings clear about facing Federer after he beat Basilashvili before the conclusion of the Fritz match:

This year's Australian Open marks the second time Tsitsipas has reached the fourth round of a major, as he also did so at the 2018 Wimbledon.