Frances Tiafoe's season is likely over after he withdrew from next week's Moselle Open in Metz.
Tiafoe's last appearance was at the ongoing Paris Masters. In the opening round, he lost a tight match 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 against the huge-serving home favorite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who also won the Swiss Indoors in Basel last week.
That continued an underwhelming run of results for Tiafoe since the North American hardcourt swing when the 26-year-old had produced his best tennis of 2024.
Tiafoe reached the Cincinnati Open final in August. He managed a dramatic semifinal victory against Holger Rune, recovering from 2-5 down and saving two match points in the deciding set.
The world No. 1 Jannik Sinner proved too good in the final, but Tiafoe used the momentum from those performances in Ohio to reach his second US Open semifinal a couple of weeks later.
Tiafoe's impressive run in New York included triumphs against Ben Shelton, Alexei Popyrin, who had beaten Novak Djokovic in the third round, and Grigor Dimitrov before a heartbreaking five-set defeat to Taylor Fritz.
After receiving deserved praise for his achievements at the US Open, Tiafoe made headlines for the wrong reasons at the Shanghai Masters during his round-of-32 match against Roman Safiullin.
This year's Houston Open runner-up received his second time violation of the match at 5-5 in the deciding set tiebreak. Tiafoe argued that he should not have been penalized because he threw the ball in the air before the clock went to 0.
However, the umpire correctly realized the American was not genuinely attempting to serve. The decision to penalize Tiafoe for a second time led to him losing a first serve at that crucial stage of the match.
Tiafoe lost the following two points, exiting the tournament after a 7-5, 5-7, 6-7 defeat. The infuriated three-time ATP title winner launched an extraordinary outburst at the umpire afterward, repeatedly shouting "f*** you" at him.
That was a terrible moment from Tiafoe, but he avoided what might have been a significant punishment by apologizing swiftly for his actions, admitting he had set a bad example for kids watching him.
His outburst at the umpire in Shanghai may have impacted him since. Tiafoe did not produce his best tennis at the Almaty Open, Vienna Open, or the Paris Masters, although it was hard for him to get into the match against Mpetshi Perricard because of the Frenchman's serve.
Tiafoe's defeat in Paris ended his slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals. He needed to win the title to have a realistic chance of making it to the year-end tournament, but he could not manage it.
He has now withdrawn from the Moselle Open. No official reason was given for that decision, but it is certainly possible he chose not to play because he cannot qualify for the ATP Finals.
Tiafoe is also not on the U.S. Davis Cup Finals team taking place later this month in Malaga. The possibility of injuries or withdrawals means his season is not officially over yet, but fans will likely next see Tiafoe during the 2025 season.
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