American Frances Tiafoe feels the pandemic was the ‘best thing’ to have happened in his career

American Frances Tiafoe feels the pandemic was the ‘best thing’ to have happened in his career

Frances Tiafoe scaled

Frances Tiafoe

American tennis player, Frances Tiafoe won his first ATP title at the 2018 Delray Beach Open. In the early months of 2020, Tiafoe struggled for form and confidence as he was stuck in a cycle of disappointing results.

He opened the year with a quarter-final run at the 2021 Delray Beach Open but had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to the fast-paced lives of tennis players and the world, in general, the American would have had difficulty coming out of his ‘dark phase’; as he mentioned in an interview with ATPTour.com.

 “I was in a dark place pre-pandemic” – Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe

The five-month suspension of the ATP Tour could have possibly stopped many in-form stars from carrying their momentum into further events, or aid struggling players to break a cycle of disappointing results and find their way out of a difficult position.

Frances Tiafoe has used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to reflect, step away from the sport and assess his game and his career.

“The pandemic was probably the best thing that happened to me in my career, if we are going to be frank. I was in a dark place pre-pandemic, I looked at the guy in the mirror [and asked], ‘Why are you here? What are the things you need to change and what are the things you need to keep building on?’ It helped me a lot. There were a lot of deep conversations with my guys and I wouldn’t have made it to the second week of the US Open without that,” said the current World No.62.

Tiafoe revealed that to move forward in his career, he needed to embrace change at that point in his career. Few months away from the sport, he admitted to be missing the feeling of competition and returned to action at the Western & Southern Open with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and he faced Andy Murray in his first match.

Despite the loss against Murray, Tiafoe took the positives out of his first performance in more than five months and made it to hisr first Round of 16 appearance at the US Open.

“I’m ready to do a lot of great things in 2021” – Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe

After finding his way through dark times, the American is now ready for a bright and successful 2021 campaign; Tiafoe will aim to build on his encouraging start to the season.

Having started to work with former World No.6, Wayne Ferreira during the 2020 lockdown, part of Tiafoe’s maturation has been in the way he now approaches the game. The World No.62 is keen to find the right balance when it comes to having fun on the court, as he aims to make his mark on the sport.

As Tiafoe prepares to celebrate his 23rd birthday on 20 January, he is ready to begin a new phase of his career.

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