Frances Tiafoe was beaten in the final of the ATP tournament in Houston for a second consecutive year.
Tiafoe was part of American history at the U.S Men’s Clay Court Championships, as he went onto reach his third successive final in Houston.
This was a positive sign for the American, with Tiafoe having a poor season before the Houston tournament.
However, Tiafoe could not go all the way and was beaten in the final by a resurgent Jenson Brooksby.
Jack Sock shocked by Frances Tiafoe performance in Houston final
Brooksby beat Tiafoe, 6-4 6-2, in just under one hour and 28 minutes in a fairly one-sided final at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships.
When reacting to this final, former top 10 player and 2015 Houston champion Jack Sock was full of praise for Brooksby.
However, Sock admitted that Tiafoe’s performance left him surprised and claimed that his compatriot did not look like he was trying to win the title.
“I think we all know he [Brooksby] has a very quirky game. Very unorthodox,” Sock said on the Nothing Major Podcast. “His stroke is a little funky. He does hit the ball clean. His strategy and game plan, whatever he does, he does very well and he is able to somehow dictate points. He is very in control of what he does. I think we could definitely see him back in the top 100 by the end of the year.
“I went back and watched the highlights of the final. I feel like Frances just played so tentatively. Frances just looked not really like he was trying to go out there to win that tournament or title with his style of play, where he can usually just bully people around. But all credit to Brooksby, he executes what he does very well. He is a very comfortable finalist, I was shocked at that.”
Sam Querrey, who Sock beat in the 2015 Houston final, echoed his podcast co-host’s sentiment about Tiafoe and predicted Brooksby to return to the top 100 in the near future.
“I think he is a lock to get into the top 100 soon,” Querrey said about Brooksby. “Saving three match points and winning the tournament, the opportunities are pretty much endless through the summer. He will get a wildcard everywhere. He is a fun player to watch. He plays like Fabrice Santoro almost, with the two handed volley. I really enjoy watching him.
“It felt like he just rode the momentum all week. Saved the match points. It was just like his event to win. He had something special behind him during the week and then the finals he just blew Frances off the court.
“I didn’t think Frances played great. It was a weird final. Jenson went up 4-0 and then Frances got it back to 4-4 and you thought he had figured it out and then from that point forward Jenson just blew him off the court. Won the first 6-4 and then the second 6-2.”
Two-time US Men’s Clay Court champion Steve Johnson followed this up by pointing out that Tiafoe does not have the best record in ATP finals, a statistic that he claimed was confusing to him.
“Frances is 3-7 in finals. Is that a confusing stat for a guy who I think is a big match player, always shows up,” said Johnson. “We see him take care of business in big moments at the US Open. It seems an odd stat for him to be 3-7 in finals.”
Frances Tiafoe’s poor record in ATP finals continues
Tiafoe’s defeat to Brooksby was his third consecutive final defeat, that includes last year when Ben Shelton won the Houston title after beating him.
Some of his other more recent final defeats include Tiafoe losing to Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati, in what was the American’s first ever final at Masters 1000 level last year.
Despite his recent woes in championship matches, Tiafoe has achieved the impressive feat of winning a title on every surface after winning tournaments in Delray Beach, Houston and Stuttgart.
| Year | Tournament | Final Result |
| 2018 | Delray Beach Open (ATP 250 – Hard) | Tiafoe beat Peter Gojowczyk, 6-1 6-4 |
| 2018 | Estoril Open (ATP 250 – Clay) | Joao Sousa beat Tiafoe, 6-4 6-4 |
| 2021 | Vienna Open (ATP 500 – Indoor Hard) | Alexander Zverev beat Tiafoe, 7-5 6-4 |
| 2022 | Estoril Open (ATP 250 – Clay) | Sebastian Baez beat Tiafoe, 6-3 6-2 |
| 2022 | Japan Open (ATP 500 – Hard) | Taylor Fritz beat Tiafoe, 7-6(3) 7-6(2) |
| 2023 | U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships (ATP 250 – Clay) | Tiafoe beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 7-6(1) 7-6(6) |
| 2023 | Stuttgart Open (ATP 250 – Grass) | Tiafoe beat Jan-Lennard Struff, 4-6 7-6(1) 7-6(8) |
| 2024 | U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships (ATP 250 – Clay) | Ben Shelton beat Tiafoe, 7-5 4-6 6-3 |
| 2024 | Cincinnati Open (ATP 1000 – Hard) | Jannik Sinner beat Tiafoe, 7-6(4) 6-2 |
| 2025 | U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships (ATP 250 – Clay) | Jenson Brooksby beat Tiafoe, 6-4 6-2 |
Tiafoe has little time to get over the disappointment of losing the Houston final, as he now plays at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The 27-year-old plays his first round match against Miomir Kecmanovic on Tuesday April 8.
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