Frances Tiafoe Offers Two Free Tickets to Fan Who Took His Racket After His Roland Garros Thriller

Frances Tiafoe will be locking horns with Jaime Faria in the third round of the French Open.

Frances Tiafoe Offers Two Free Tickets to Fan Who Took His Racket After His Roland Garros Thriller

Frances Tiafoe (Image via ATP Tour)

In Short
  • Frances Tiafoe's racket was taken by a spectator during his celebration after a win at Roland Garros.
  • He offered two free tickets to the fan in exchange for the return of his racket.
  • The fan returned the racket before Tiafoe's press conference, allowing him to prepare for his next match.

Frances Tiafoe, after battling for four hours and 43 minutes in the heatwave, realized that someone had taken his racket while he was celebrating his win. On Thursday (May 28), the American ace clinched a 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz in the second round of the French Open.

An exuberant Tiafoe had no idea while celebrating that a spectator on Court 14 took the racket from him. He ran toward a group of fans and jumped in joy. At that time, he was holding his racket.

Check out the video here:

They were locking me in. I thought I was going to fall into the crowd at one point. It was fun, it was a cool moment – but I actually need that racket… I need to go shake Hubi’s hand and the ref’s hand. And then I’m walking off the court, and I was like ‘wait, hold on, I’m down a racket’. I never put that racket back in.

Frances Tiafoe said at the press conference

Later, he took to his Instagram story and requested the spectator to return the racket to his coach, Brian Kublik. He also promised them two free tickets.

Unreal atmosphere on Court 14 today. But I must say to the fan who took my racket at the end when I was celebrating with yall. Can I please have it back? I’ll bless you with two tickets for my next match.

Check out his post here:

Well, before his press conference, the fan returned the racket to him. Tiafoe, a one-time quarterfinalist at the French Open and a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, will next be locking horns with unseeded Jaime Faria in the third round. The Portuguese ace defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2.

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Frances Tiafoe on Jannik Sinner’s French Open exit

Jannik Sinner has crashed out of the French Open. On Thursday (May 28th), the Italian ace lost a shock 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/4K JANNIK SINNER)

He was very close to completing the match in straight sets, needing just a game win to seal the win, but he suffered cramps and eventually lost, sending shockwaves across the tennis world. Frances Tiafoe heard about Sinner’s exit from a fan while he was clashing with Hubert Hurkacz.

Later at the press conference, Tiafoe was asked whether he thinks he has the chance to finally win his career’s first Major now that the four-time Grand Slam champion is no longer in the draw.

I think everyone’s going to even have more, but ultimately really doesn’t matter. You got to beat one guy and whoever’s in front of you. It’s a long two weeks. A lot of things can happen. […] You know, to me, it doesn’t really matter. I just got to beat the guy in front of me. Just carry on and carry on and carry on.

Cerundolo ended the World No.1’s 30-match winning streak, which started at the Indian Wells Masters. After winning his first title in the California desert, the 24-year-old went on to lift the Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters, Madrid Open, and the Italian Open.

His win in Rome made him the second man, after Novak Djokovic, to complete the Career Golden Masters. After his exit in the French Open, many have started to question his decision to play the three Masters 1000s on clay.

Sinner is next set to play at Wimbledon as he has confirmed that he won’t be playing at the Halle Open. He will enter the grass-court Major as the defending champion.

Also read: Novak Djokovic Channels Inner Michael Jackson at Roland Garros to Challenge Dance Rival Aryna Sabalenka