Frances Tiafoe is through to the third round of the Australian Open after seeing off Francisco Comesana in four sets on Wednesday.

The American was solid throughout, eventually posting a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win at Margaret Court Arena.

After a tough campaign last year that saw him slide from 18th to 30th in the rankings, Tiafoe has set himself a higher bar for this season and appears determined to meet it early on.

Tiafoe will now take on world number six Alex de Minaur in the next round. The Australian recently spoke about his ambitions for the upcoming season and comes into this matchup full of confidence.

Speaking after his win over Comesana, Tiafoe looked ahead to his clash with de Minaur, who also advanced on Wednesday by beating Hamad Medjedovic.

Tiafoe talks up third round matchup with de Minaur

“Yeah, I mean as far as a player, I’ve known him for a while, known him for a long time,” Tiafoe said during his post-match press conference.

“Him and me, we’ve played since we came on the scene. Got in the top 100 kind of around the same time. Yeah, I mean, seen him around for years. And now we’re, you know, the older guys on the tour. And now we’re playing big matches against each other.

“Earlier than for both of us that we would like, but I’m happy to play against him. It’s going to be fun. Against all these fans. I love playing on the big courts. And now is where the event really gets going. Only tough and good matches ahead. And you have to rise to the occasion.

“He’s going to come for me, I’m going to come for him. Yeah, tennis is going to get their money’s worth.”

Afterwards in his press conference Tiafoe was questioned if Comesana offered an effective tune-up before he faces de Minaur’s speed.

Comesana is similar to de Minaur in terms of raw speed and quickness across the court.

Tiafoe replied:

“I mean it’s a great test before playing de Minaur because you have to [hit] one extra shot,

“Going to make you earn it. You think you hit a winner? No.

Looking back at Frances Tiafoe’s head-to-head record with Alex de Minaur

Tiafoe holds just one win in four encounters against Alex de Minaur on the ATP Tour.

Their first match came at the 2018 US Open, where de Minaur claimed a second-round victory, 6-4, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.

They met again in the final stages of the Next Gen Finals in 2019. De Minaur once more had the edge, winning 4-2, 4-1, 0-4, 4-2 under the modified scoring format.

It wasn’t until three years later that Tiafoe broke through for his only win against de Minaur so far. He took a tight two-set match in the Paris Masters round of 16, winning a close tiebreak in the second set to seal it.

Their most recent clash was at last year’s Canadian Open. Tiafoe pushed hard but came up short again as de Minaur won another three-set contest between them. While he trails in their head-to-head record, Tiafoe has shown he can be competitive – and he’ll be looking to level things out when they meet next at Melbourne Park.