Former US tennis player reveals Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are part of the ‘Anti-Olympics’ tribe

Taylor Fritz was USA's highest-profile male player at the Paris Olympics after the withdrawals of Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton.

Former US tennis player reveals Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are part of the ‘Anti-Olympics’ tribe

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe (via IMAGO)

Former US tennis player Sam Querrey has made a significant claim regarding Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe and their withdrawals from the Paris Olympics. The former Wimbledon semifinalist suggested that the dynamic American duo are part of the ‘anti-Olympic’ tribe.

Querrey, who has skipped the Olympics in the past to focus on his routine schedule, has said that these players want the Olympics to shed light on other sports rather than tennis.

YouTube video
I mean, you saw our Olympic team this year. I think Shelton’s not going, Frances isn’t going, and other players have opted to not go in the past t0o. So it’s not it’s not just like me who’s anti-Olympics. I just like, sometimes, I feel like I want the light to be on like the true Olympic sports.
Sam Querrey said on the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast

Representing their country at the Paris Olympics is a dream for many athletes. The tennis community only needs to look at Novak Djokovic. The Serb has won 24 Grand Slam titles, but none of those slams generated an emotional reaction like when he secured his Olympic medal on Friday (August 2).

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However, there is a specific section that doesn’t want to be part of an Olympic event. Shelton and Tiafoe are playing in Washington. Taylor Fritz was the highest-seeded American playing at the Olympic Games.

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Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton progress in Washington

Local hero Frances Tiafoe made a big move on Friday night at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. Cheered on by an energetic Washington crowd, he achieved his first Top 10 win since 2022. Tiafoe beat top seed Andrey Rublev with a score of 6-4, 7-6(3). This victory sent him to the semi-finals of the ATP 500 for the first time.

The Maryland-native had a strong start and broke Rublev’s serve midway through the first set. In the second set, he came back from 1-4 to secure the win. This tournament is special for him because he made his ATP Tour debut here in 2014.

With this win, Tiafoe now has a 3-1 record against Rublev in their head-to-head meetings. He has moved up two places to No. 27 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. If he wins his first title of 2024 on Sunday, he can re-enter the Top 25.

In the semi-finals, Tiafoe will face fellow American Sebastian Korda. The other semi-final match will feature second seed Ben Shelton against 10th seed Flavio Cobolli. The US Open semi-finalist had a dramatic win against Denis Shapovalov, who was defaulted after making a comment to a fan. The American is now 4-0 in quarter-finals on home soil and has matched his win record from 2023.

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