Frances Tiafoe’s junior coach explains what was ‘not good’ about him as a junior player

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Frances Tiafoe has established himself as one of the best players in American tennis over recent years.

There are few players with more ‘Box Office’ appeal than Tiafoe, who entertains fans whenever he steps foot onto the court.

The 27-year-old may not be the most consistent player on the ATP Tour, but he more than makes up for his lack of consistency with his charisma and energy.

Always the man for the big occasion, Tiafoe reached the US Open semi-finals for a second time in 2024, narrowly losing out to fellow American Taylor Fritz in a five-set battle on Arthur Ashe.

He was unable to bring forward that Grand Slam form into the new year, however, as Tiafoe lost to Fabian Marozsan in the second round of the Australian Open.

Tiafoe’s early exit in Melbourne may not have come as too much of a surprise, considering it has now been six years since the American reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.

He did so back in 2019, when he made the quarter-finals as a youngster, showcasing his potential on the biggest stage.

However, Tiafoe had to work for his potential, as his junior coach explains that the world number 18 wasn’t necessarily the most talented player he’d ever seen when they first met 19 years ago.

Frances Tiafoe’s junior coach Misha Kouznetsov says he was ‘not that good’ when they first met

Speaking on CoachLife, Tiafoe’s junior coach Misha Kouznetsov revealed what he thought about the American when they first met.

“When I met him he was eight years old, he was not that good, regular,” he said.

“Technically he just had a drop shot, no forehand, no backhand, no serve, so I just started to teach. 

“He just had a slice, so from the slice I went to a regular backhand, regular forehand, I started to teach fast, started with technique, fundamentals, grip, and then we started to hit a lot of balls.

“We did angles for about three, four years, almost every day, and then for two years we did weapons, then another two years, we did serve.”

Kouznetsov went on to explain what he and Tiafoe did that helped separate him from his competition.

“We served every single day at seven in the morning, I picked him up early, we went to the tennis court before everybody else got there at eight, we were already serving for an hour,” he said.

“Then we did clinic, then we did matchplay, then we did fitness.

“We did about five hours of tennis a day, seven days a week for nine and a half years straight.

“On weekends we did tournaments, during the week we worked on technique and we competed in the afternoons.”

Kouznetsov worked with Tiafoe between the ages of eight and 17, before he moved to Florida to train with the United States Tennis Association.

Frances Tiafoe continues to struggle with early exit at the Dallas Open

Tiafoe had hoped to bounce back from a disappointing showing in Melbourne, as he headed to Dallas, for the first ATP 500 event of the season.

The American fought through in three sets to beat Taro Daniel in the first round, advancing to play Yoshihito Nishioka in the second.

It was there that he fell to defeat, however, as the Japanese star battled back from a set down to win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, to knock Tiafoe out of the Dallas Open.

The result was the latest in a poor run of form for the 27-year-old, who has struggled since reaching the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows last September.

• 2025 Dallas Open 2R – Lost v Yoshihito Nishioka
• 2025 Dallas Open 1R – Won v Taro Daniel
• 2025 Australian Open 2R – Lost v Fabian Marozsan
• 2025 Australian Open 1R – Won v Arthur Rinderknech
• 2025 Brisbane International 2R – Lost v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
• 2025 Brisbane International 1R – Won v Adam Walton
• 2024 Paris Masters 1R – Lost v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
• 2024 Vienna Open 2R – Lost v Matteo Berrettini
• 2024 Vienna Open 1R – Won v Cameron Norrie
• 2024 Almaty Open QF – Lost v Aleksandar Vukic
• 2024 Almaty Open 1R – Won v Dan Evans
• 2024 Shanghai Masters 2R – Lost to Roman Safiullin
• 2024 Shanghai Masters 1R – Won v Zhou Yi
• 2024 Japan Open 1R – Lost to Brandon Nakashima

156 days have passed since Tiafoe last won back-to-back matches on the ATP Tour, holding a fairly unremarkable 6-8 record following his US Open exploits.

The former world number ten will now take a few weeks to rest and recover as he looks to get back to winning ways soon.

He’s set to make his return to the court at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, on February 24.