Frances Tiafoe has sent a strong message ahead of Roland Garros regarding Jannik Sinner’s recent dominance.
Tiafoe reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals for the first time last year, but he has struggled to find form on clay so far this year.
The same cannot be said for world number one Sinner, who is the big favorite for the Roland Garros title this year after winning the Monte Carlo Masters, Madrid Open and the Italian Open.
No player has beaten Sinner since February, but Tiafoe has suggested that ATP players need a mindset switch ahead of Roland Garros this year.
Frances Tiafoe explains why he is not putting Jannik Sinner ‘on a pedestal’
Sinner is currently on a 29-match winning streak ahead of Roland Garros, and has only lost two matches so far this year.
One of the players whom Sinner has beaten on this winning streak is Tiafoe, who he defeated in straight sets at the Miami Open earlier this year.
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Tiafoe has lost five of his six previous matches against Sinner, but he stated that he is not trying to put the Italian on a ‘pedestal’ when asked about him in his pre-tournament press conference.
The American also told the rest of the ATP Tour to try and get Sinner ‘out of his high horse’, despite Tiafoe being full of praise for the world number one.
“Yeah, I mean, I mean, look, I mean, he’s hell of a player,” said Tiafoe. “I’m not gonna sit here and, continue to continue to put him on a pedestal.
“He’s a hell of a player, obviously he’s doing monumental things, but I think, you know, we got to believe that you can do the ultimate task and beat him.
“I mean, everyone’s capable, especially top guys, guys are capable, but, I think the biggest thing is to kind of get him out of his high horse mentally.
“I think we’re all kind of putting him on a different stratosphere, which he is, but you kind of kind of create a little bit of illusion to get you good, to get you to get over the line.”
Frances Tiafoe says how he really feels about Carlos Alcaraz not being at Roland Garros this year
One of the other reasons that Sinner is such a huge favorite for the Roland Garros title this year is due to the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, who is also missing Wimbledon due to his wrist injury.
When asked about Alcaraz’s withdrawal, Tiafoe claimed that the ‘game needs’ the Spaniard, but he did not believe it had much of an impact on himself.
“Not gonna do that though, man,” responded Tiafoe. “Shout out Carlos a really good friend of mine. The game needs him, it hurts that he’s out, you know, here and Wimbledon, but, you know, I’m not gonna, you know, rag him on tour like that.
“You’ve got a ton of great players, and especially a guy like me, I’m not losing to Carlos and Sinner every week. There’s a bunch of guys that have been losing to, so, I’m not gonna sit here and say there’s a huge opportunity.
“Is that a fact? Sure, but I’m not gonna sit here and say, ‘Oh, Carlos is out, oh, man, it’s wide open.’ That’s not the case. That’s not the case. So, yeah, the game, everybody is really strong.”
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Tiafoe will only play Sinner at Roland Garros this year if he matches his result at the tournament last year by reaching the quarterfinals.
The 19th seed will begin his campaign against fellow American Eliot Spizzirri, who Tiafoe will play on Monday, May 24.
