{"id":252704,"date":"2025-09-25T04:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/252704\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T04:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:01:12","slug":"frances-tiafoe-says-he-wants-to-challenge-carlos-alcaraz-and-jannik-sinner-and-plans-to-make-change-to-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/252704\/","title":{"rendered":"Frances Tiafoe says he wants to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and plans to make change to do it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Frances Tiafoe has been out of form recently, but still dreams of winning the biggest titles on tour.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The two-time semifinalist suffered a shock defeat at the US Open when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/frances-tiafoe-gives-the-true-reason-why-he-struggled-so-much-against-jan-lennard-struff-after-shock-us-open-defeat\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tiafoe lost to Jan-Lennard Struff<\/a> in the fourth round.<\/p>\n<p>Looking to bounce back at the Davis Cup, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/the-only-davis-cup-match-frances-tiafoe-has-ever-won-as-he-continues-his-poor-record-in-the-competition\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tiafoe lost both of his singles matches<\/a> as the United States failed to qualify for the finals in Bologna.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2235123004-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Frances Tiafoe reacts during his defeat to Jiri Lehecka at the 2025 Davis Cup\" class=\"wp-image-129474\" \/>Photo by Rich Storry\/Getty Images for ITF<\/p>\n<p>Withdrawing from the Laver Cup, Tiafoe instead travelled to Tokyo for the Japan Open <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/atp\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ATP<\/a> 500 event.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of his first-round match with Marton Fucsovics, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/frances-tiafoe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tiafoe<\/a> spoke openly about his ambition to challenge the very best players in men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n<p>Frances Tiafoe plans to start practising with \u2018high intensity\u2019 to join Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner<\/p>\n<p>During an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olympics.com\/en\/news\/tennis-japan-open-2025-frances-tiafoe-interview-obsessed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Olympics.com<\/a>, Tiafoe commented on the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a couple more guys who have got to join them. I\u2019m not saying beat them, but there\u2019s got to be [other] guys \u2013 and that motivates me,\u201d said Tiafoe<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2236652626-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Frances Tiafoe reacts during the 2025 Japan Open vs Marton Fucsovics\" class=\"wp-image-132266\" \/>Photo by RICHARD A. BROOKS\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m like, yo, who\u2019s that third guy? Who\u2019s that fourth guy?<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Novak [Djokovic]<\/a>\u00a0doesn\u2019t count. He\u2019s 40. I love him, but he doesn\u2019t count. He\u2019s 40. He\u2019s a GOAT; he\u2019s the best player of all time. He\u2019s not with those guys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is that other guy or two to be there and maybe beat these guys? Who are those guys? And there\u2019s a bunch of guys who can be that guy, right? So that\u2019s really motivating me. It\u2019s like, \u2018See big picture.\u2019 That\u2019s motivating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the previous eight Grand Slams among themselves and are currently ranked number one and two in the world.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"inline-links multi\">\n<li>2024 Australian Open \u2013 Jannik Sinner<\/li>\n<li>2024 French Open \u2013 Carlos Alcaraz<\/li>\n<li>2024 Wimbledon \u2013 Carlos Alcaraz<\/li>\n<li>2024 US Open \u2013 Jannik Sinner<\/li>\n<li>2025 Australian Open \u2013 Jannik Sinner<\/li>\n<li>2025 French Open \u2013 Carlos Alcaraz<\/li>\n<li>2025 Wimbledon \u2013 Jannik Sinner<\/li>\n<li>2025 US Open \u2013 Carlos Alcaraz<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Rank<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Name<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Country<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Points<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Points interval<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>Carlos Alcaraz<\/td>\n<td>Spain<\/td>\n<td>11,540<\/td>\n<td>\u2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>Jannik Sinner<\/td>\n<td>Italy<\/td>\n<td>10,780<\/td>\n<td>760<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>Alexander Zverev<\/td>\n<td>Germany<\/td>\n<td>5,930<\/td>\n<td>4,850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>Novak Djokovic<\/td>\n<td>Serbia<\/td>\n<td>4,830<\/td>\n<td>1,100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>Taylor Fritz<\/td>\n<td>USA<\/td>\n<td>4,675<\/td>\n<td>155<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Official ATP top five<\/p>\n<p>Knowing there\u2019s a big gap to close down, Tiafoe highlighted Alcaraz and Sinner\u2019s biggest strength, which he plans to add to his own game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone\u2019s puzzle looks different, everyone\u2019s style looks different. But the biggest thing is the intensity they\u2019re playing at, how fast they\u2019re playing at,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Jannik, you know what product you\u2019re going to get from him every single day. Alcaraz is more similar to me, as in the flashier talent or whatever, but still, his effort and what he brings out is the same every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I can get more of that, bring in a high-intensity effort to practice, I\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead to the future, Tiafoe said fans can expect big changes from him in a bid to regain competitiveness ahead of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can expect a different version. A version that\u2019s yes, he\u2019s going to be a smiling guy, but he\u2019s going to be going to be there f\u2014\u2014 about it and hopefully, hopefully, that gets me to where I\u2019m trying to go,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for the American, the \u2018new\u2019 Tiafoe came up short in his Tokyo opener\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Frances Tiafoe loses to Marton Fucsovics at the Japan Open<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t to be for Tiafoe in round one of the 2025 Japan Open, as he lost to Fucsovics in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 5-7.<\/p>\n<p>Despite making ten aces, Tiafoe\u2019s serve let him down at times, giving the Hungarian 13 opportunities to break.<\/p>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Player<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Aces<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Double faults<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1st Serve %<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Win % on 1st Serve<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Win % on 2nd Serve<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Break points<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Frances Tiafoe<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>53%<\/td>\n<td>67%<\/td>\n<td>47%<\/td>\n<td>2\/4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Marton Fucsovics<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>59%<\/td>\n<td>69%<\/td>\n<td>73%<\/td>\n<td>4\/13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Serving stats from Frances Tiafoe vs Marton Fucsovics<\/p>\n<p>The world number 29 will now head over to Shanghai for the penultimate Masters 1000 event of the season.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2237077958-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Frances Tiafoe reacts during his first-round defeat at the 2025 Japan Open\" class=\"wp-image-132281\" \/>Photo by Koji Watanabe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Tiafoe has only won two career matches at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/shanghai-masters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shanghai Masters<\/a>, a tally he would no doubt love to improve upon in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 Shanghai Masters are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, October 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frances Tiafoe has been out of form recently, but still dreams of winning the biggest titles on tour.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":252705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1479,1466,27762,1824,62,1464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-252704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp","9":"tag-carlos-alcaraz","10":"tag-frances-tiafoe","11":"tag-jannik-sinner","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115262946305825069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}