South African coach Wayne Ferreira has decided to join Chinese tennis star Wu Yibing, who also includes coach Marcos Baghdatis, after his recent split with American Frances Tiafoe.
Together, Ferreira and Tiafoe experienced great success. Under Ferreira’s guidance, Tiafoe advanced to his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open in 2022 and into the top 10 of the ATP rankings.
In an Instagram post, Tiafoe revealed on Wednesday night that the two were parting ways. He expressed his gratitude to Ferreira for their time together and reflected on their collective success.
Tiafoe wrote: “I just wanted to say thanks to this guy. For three years, we shared. SHEESH, we had a ton of success. But sadly, we’ve decided to part ways. Thanks for getting me to be the player I am today. I have nothing but love and respect for you. My guy, Wayne Ferriera.”
Ferreira and Baghdatis are hoping to mentor Yibing to success, creating a collaborative effort that has grown more typical following the example of the Italian Jannik Sinner and his coaches, Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, who were selected as the season’s top coaches.
Yibing Wu in 2023
Now ranked no.121, Wu played his last match on the 31st of August when he lost to world no.12 Alex De Minaur 6-1 6-2 6-1 in the 2nd round of the U.S. Open (draw).
This year Wu achieved an overall 18-17 match record. This year, Wu clinched 1 title in Dallas. Wu was the finalist in the Cleveland Challenger.
Frances Tiafoe in 2023
Currently the world no.16, the American played his last match on the 30th of October when he capitulated to world no.32 Alexander Bublik 6-3 6-4 in the 1st round in Paris (draw).
This season Frances has a compiled 40-21 win-loss record. Frances conquered 3 titles in 2023 in Australia, Houston and Stuttgart.
He is also scheduled to play at the Australian Open (Australian Open) after Hong Kong. The main draw will start on the 1st of January.
Yibing Wu and Frances Tiafoe fought against each other only once. Their record is 1-0 for Tiafoe. When they played, Frances Tiafoe won 7-6(4) 6-3 6-4 in the 1st round in London (Wimbledon) on the 5th of July 2023.