Tiafoe Opens Up About How He Scraped 'Selective Competing' And Became 'More Professional'

Sunday, 03 September 2023 at 03:05

bySebastian Dahlman

Frances Tiafoe has been a name in tennis for years, yet it's only recently that he's been playing at the level many thought he would.

There are many reasons why Tiafoe's ascension to stardom took a while, but most of it comes down to him not really focusing on it entirely. The American always had a bit of a loose style of tennis, but it wasn't until last year that he started to take things really seriously.

Doing that made a ton of difference, and results quickly followed. A US Open semi-final last year, a couple of titles this year, and a Top 10 ranking on the ATP Tour. All that comes from becoming a bit more professional, and he talked about that following his win over Adrian Mannarino at the 2023 US Open.

I think obviously things are just kind of coming together. I've been much more professional for the last two, three years now. But as you have big results, as you see the work paying off, you start tapping in more and more and more.

Read also

WATCH: Furious Ostapenko Forces Loud Fan Out Of Stadium At US Open

The US Open run last year was really impactful for Tiafoe. Not only did it prove that he could stay with the best as he nearly ousted eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final, but also sparked a hunger to continue with the success.

You got to keep evolving, yeah, just keep trying to add things to my game, keep trying to stay locked in, but still be me. But, I mean, just the consistency, trying to get the most out of myself every tournament I play. Just little things. I

Winning two trophies already this year proves that he's taking it far more seriously than before, and he even admitted it. He described it as 'selective competing,' which he doesn't do anymore. He's now taking every event seriously, and it's paid off.

I perform better in the smaller events than I have in the past. Usually I don't do so well in the small events. Usually it's like selective competing. Now I'm competing every event. It's the most matches I've won in a season so far already.