Frances Tiafoe is currently in a portion of the tennis season he enjoys – the North American hard court swing.
The 27-year-old thrives on playing in front of his home fans and he commenced this section of the year at the Citi Open.
Following his quarter-final exit, Frances Tiafoe will now turn his attention to the ATP Canadian Open, which will be hosted in Toronto.
But ahead of competing in Canada, the two-time US Open semi-finalist had some strong words about the upcoming Masters 1000 event
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty ImagesFrances Tiafoe criticises ATP Canadian Open and says what she finds ‘weird and ‘garbage’ about it
Since 2024, many of the Masters 1000 tournaments were changed from seven days to last between 10 to 14 days.
This season the Canadian Open has been extended from seven to 12 days, with the final taking place on August 7, which falls on a Thursday, an unusual day for an ATP Tour final.
This is something that Tiafoe finds quite confusing, but he is still looking forward to having a strong run at the tournament.
“It is what it is. I like that it’s a bit shorter than Madrid, Rome. Weird because the final is on a Thursday. That’s garbage,” Tiafoe told reporters.
“But, I mean, I think it’s going to be great. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I love the city of Toronto. My girlfriend’s from there. Then I’ve got a lot of friends in the league from there, so I’m going to be set up, have a good time.
“But yeah, I mean, I guess I’m ready to get going and see how that goes. The 10-day events are tough, but I think it will be easier since I’m so close to the States. Something goes wrong, I’m a quick flight home.
“It’s not like when I’m stuck in Europe and playing on red clay and people speaking different languages and s—. It’s better to kind of be in the States, so for sure, I’m really happy. Hopefully put up some good results going into the Open. That’s kind of what matters.”
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty ImagesFrances Tiafoe’s Citi Open campaign is over after losing to Ben Shelton
Tiafoe will begin preparing for the Canadian Open after losing to Ben Shelton at the Citi Open.
Shelton and Tiafoe are good friends who enjoy playing against each other, but Shelton currently has his compatriot’s number.
He has now won three of their four encounters and his 7-6, 6-4 victory came on the back of winning 67% of his first serve points.
Shelton has now made back-to-back semi-finals in Washington D.C. and he will take on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a spot in the final.
“We know tennis is a long journey. We’re going to play each other a bunch of times,” Shelton said after beating Tiafoe.
“Especially, we’ve already played on hard courts, we’ve already played twice at the US Open, and he beat me the most recent time. It’s tough not to cheer for a guy like that.”