After a lackluster start to the 2024 season apart from a (lost) final at the ATP 250 in Houston, Frances Tiafoe has lost some of his splendour after a great 2023 season (two titles) where he reached 10th place in the world.
And after having forced himself to overcome the Italian Arnaldi while he was trailing two sets to zero in the first round of Wimbledon this Monday (6-7, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3), the American made his self-criticism in a press conference.
“Last year I was top 10 in the world and this year I’m barely seeded at Wimbledon. I lost to clowns. I hate to say it, but I’m being honest. I took my game for granted and rested on my laurels a bit. You stop having fun and you find yourself in a weird position. Then you forget what you were doing to win. You start to doubt yourself, but that’s the game. It doesn’t always go smoothly. There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, which you were trying to find with small victories. Or you keep feeling sorry for yourself and playing the victim, that’s when things get darker and darker.”
And if we follow the American’s “honest” reasoning, he has lost 14 times since the beginning of the year. Here is the list of potential “clowns”: Machac, Giron, Paul, Koepfer (twice), Tsitsipas, O’Connell, Shelton, Cachin, Coria, Rinderknech, Shapovalov, Draper and Hijikata.
Published on Monday, July 1, 2024 at 9:44 p.m.
2024-07-01 19:44:00
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