Frances Tiafoe loves playing at Grand Slams and that has been illustrated by his French Open run.
The 27-year-old is currently on the best run of his career at the clay court major after reaching the fourth round.
He defeated compatriot Sebastian Korda to reach the last 16 for the first time in the French capital, and he did so without dropping a set.
Perhaps his latest French Open run came after a turning point in his career that he thinks was desperately needed.
What happened in one of Frances Tiafoe’s practice sessions before the French Open?
Frances Tiafoe has endured an indifferent season in which he has suffered several early losses. Furthermore, the American has yet to win a title in 2025, but he will take heart from a confidence-boosting French Open run.
Clay has not been Tiafoe’s most successful surface, but he is into the fourth round at Roland Garros and has an opportunity to reach the last eight when he takes on Daniel Altmaier on Sunday.
While talking to reporters, the World number 16 explained that the catalyst for his career-best French Open came following a moment in a practice session where he lost his temper and broke a racket.
Tiafoe said this was key as he finally let out some of the pent-up frustration, and he now feels more free on court.
“To be honest with you, I snapped a racket on, probably, Friday,” he told reporters. “I played on Sunday, in practice, and I absolutely lost it. Then I played horrendous in a practice set, got absolutely killed. Then played another practice set that same day, right after that, after I broke the racquet and everything.
“That was critical for me. That was huge. I have been losing all kinds of matches, and I kind of was nonchalant about it, holding emotions in, not really letting guys know where I am at. I just kinda just lost it.
“That was big for me in terms of having emotion and understanding like being, like, yes this sucks. Like actually facing it rather than just kind of being, ‘Oh, you know, it’s all right. No, it sucks. You have been playing horrendous.’
“I think that was big for me, because then I finally actually adjusted and understood the why. And now I’m flying. I’m actually having fun again, battling, playing well. Sometimes adversity is good. I think a lot of times people look at adversity as a bad thing. I think adversity at that moment was good.”
Frances Tiafoe is one of three Americans in the French Open fourth round
Tiafoe joined Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul as the third American man into the fourth round at the French Open for the first time since 1995.
He defeated Korda 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4, which was his first win over a Top 30 opponent on clay since 2022.
Tiafoe is pleased to see how his fellow American players are competing and says they all push each other to be better.
“I think we are all pushing each other and working hard,” Tiafoe said about his American compatriots. “There’s a window in the game, a lot of guys see a lot of opportunity and it helps when you see peers do well.
“It’s becoming a normality that we are going deep in Slams and having a look in, it’s not a surprise anymore.”
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