Frances Tiafoe: I'm top 10 and played like I don't have an ATP point

July 10, 2023

ATP Tennis Players, Tennis News, Wimbledon

Frances Tiafoe: I am top 10 in the world and played like I don’t have an ATP point

Frances Tiafoe has given a damning verdict on his third round defeat at Wimbledon, describing the loss as ‘very depressing’ and ‘unacceptable’.

Tiafoe lost to former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov, 2-6 3-6 2-6, in a match that was continued on from Saturday evening after play was stopped due to bad light.

Clinical.@GrigorDimitrov races past Frances Tiafoe in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last 16 ⚡️#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/86rrfTdh5U
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2023

The American was broken on five separate occasions, to which he was extremely disappointed with as well as the performance as a whole.

“This was a really bad match. Horrible, horrible stuff,” said Tiafoe. “To play this poorly is very depressing, especially at Wimbledon. I genuinely think I am one of the best grass-court players in the world but I didn’t show it at all. I have to live with that.”

He continued, “It will hurt for a very long time. I couldn’t hit the room or make him play. It is tough to digest. I’ve never really felt like this after a loss. I’m shocked by how I performed. I played horrendously and it is unacceptable to get broken that many times on grass.”

Tiafoe has recently risen into the ATP top 10 for the first time, following winning his first grass court title at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart, but played down the idea of him succumbing to heightened expectations.

“I am already winning in life so my defeat had nothing to do with expectations. I couldn’t care less about that,” claimed the 25-year-old.

“I want to win Slams for me, not for everybody else. It was just a bad performance. It’s tough to understand it, the why of it.”

Tiafoe added, “I am top 10 in the world and played like I don’t have an ATP point. It was God Awful. It just hurts, man, and I don’t know how to digest it. I was planning to go home and celebrate being in the top 10. That is going to be tough now. Everyone will be excited to see me and I just won’t want to do anything.”

As he plans to head home, Tiafoe’s attention will now turn to his home major where he reached the semi-final last year.