Frances Tiafoe has come under fire for calling some of his rivals clowns after admitting his challenges over the past few years. The American player won the Stuttgart Open and the US Men’s Clay Court Championship last year, pushing him to No. 10 in the ATP Rankings.
However, he has only won back-to-back games once this year, and his 13–14 win-loss record indicates a concerning decline in form thus far in 2024. He has dropped to number 30 in the rankings as a result.
However, in his Wimbledon first-round match, the 29th seed overcame a two-set deficit to upset Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
He discussed the highs and lows of tennis after the match since he felt like he had been “losing to clowns” lately. He expressed his thoughts about it and said: “It’s brutal. Highs and lows. Think about where I’m at. Literally this week last year, I was 10th in the world and now I’m barely seeded here (at Wimbledon). Losing to clowns—I hate to say it but I’m just going to be honest. I took the game for granted and got a little too comfortable. You stop having fun with it and you find yourself in a weird position. Then you kind of forget what you were doing to win?”
Social media users were not amused by the American’s comment, with many denouncing him for calling his colleagues clowns.
One of the fans wrote: “A real clown is calling other tennis players clowns.”
Another one commented: “Honesty from the players is usually cool, but I’m not sure I see any clowns here.”
Tiafoe in Wimbledon, ranking, and results in 2024
At the moment ranked no.29, Tiafoe has managed to achieve a composed 15-15 match record in 2024. The American is participating in Wimbledon where he overcame the world no.35 Matteo Arnaldi 6-75 2-6 6-1 6-3 6-3 and the world no.89 Borna Coric 7-65 6-1 6-3.
Frances Tiafoe will take on the world no.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Round Robin. Their actual record is 4-3 for Tsitsipas.
The American was the finalist in Houston (US Men’s Clay Court Championship).
The American won 4 titles in his career: 2 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Frances Tiafoe |
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