Frances Tiafoe positive to Coronavirus in Atlanta

Bad news from Frances Tiafoe as the entertaining American tested positive to Coronavirus. Frances was playing an exhibition in Atlanta called the All-American Team Cup. Tiafoe posted the following message

“Unfortunately, I tested positive late Friday for Covid-19 and have to withdraw from the All-American Team Cup special event in Atlanta this weekend. Over the past two months, I have been training in Florida and tested negative there as recently as a week ago before traveling to Atlanta.

I am scheduled to have a second test early next week, but have already begun the quarantine protocol as advised by the medical staff here in Atlanta. While I’ve been so excited to get back out there, the health and safety of everyone continues to be a top priority.”

Frances admitted that he felt not at his best when facing Sam Querrey even if he defeated him 6-4 7-6.

“It was tough. I was playing well, but I hit a serious wall. I honestly thought I was going to retire but I started to push for the fans. I didn’t want to be that guy to stop short. I came back out and was hanging by a thread,” he commented.

The exhibition will go on even if that sparked controversy, as many drew a parallel with the disgraced Adria Tour that was played in the Balkans a few weeks ago. In that case, the criticism came from the fact that there all the activities observed no social distancing whatsoever.

During a phone conversation, Querrey commented

“They seemed like they [Adria Tour] didn’t try at all. They had a player a party. The fans were packed with crowds and the players were high fiving and they did pickup basketball.

We’re not doing any of that. There’s going to be some fans. We’re not high fiving, we’re not going out to player parties. We’re going hotel to the courts. Last week it was hotel to the courts. No one high-fived. Everyone wore masks.”

Frances Tiafoe in 2020

Ranked no.81, Francis played his last match on the 5^th of March when he was overcome by Gregoire Barrere 4-6 6-2 7-6⁴ in the 3^rd round of the Indian Wells Challenger.