Frances Tiafoe might not have won the 2024 Cincinnati Open, but the American badly needed a run like this because this season hasn't been great for him.
The American's career hasn't seen many highlights recently. His career-best ranking is over a year old, and his career-best result will be two years old in a few weeks. This year, he hasn't achieved any spectacular results, and it was very disappointing for Tiafoe.
Generally, after having success, players don't want to go backwards, and his rankings and level went that way. It's been a frustrating time for him, but winning some notable matches in Cincinnati got him back on track.
He might not have beaten Jannik Sinner in the final, but he will still leave Cincinnati feeling much better about his career and tennis than before he came to Cincinnati.
"Insanely happy for the effort I had all week. Tennis is a funny sport, man. It's been a really tough year. I've struggled to put matches together, taking the game for granted, not having much gratitude."
"[I] changed coaches, [was] trying to just figure myself out. [I am] in a great situation now, and to be able to make a final in a Masters series, a chance to win it, I couldn't be happier."
Tiafoe bested a couple of notable players at the ATP Masters 1000 event, including Lorenzo Musetti, Jiri Lehecka, and Holger Rune. All three are excellent players, and wins like that give him confidence.
As he explained, there are just so many great players right now that moments like this don't come easily. He needed to work hard to beat them, and if he wouldn't be sharp enough, he would have lost.
"If you're not sharp, you're just going to lose. It’s a good and bad thing. I think, obviously, you guys want to see the top players play on the weekends. But at the same time, it’s great for the game of tennis. There are so many good players that can win. Fans get to know new, new people, new players. So it's great."
Picking up form in this part of the year is not surprising to Tiafoe because he's generally played well during this part of the season. It's also quite convenient for the US Open because it's coming up shortly.
The week at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati was just the ideal preparation for Tiafoe, who will hope to continue it at the US Open because it's an event he absolutely loves.
"The ball kind of starts making sense for me in August. I always play really well during this time. I love playing in America. I love the US Open. So I always want to be at my best going into that time. And if this is any indication of playing great tennis it looks like the US Open's going to be a good one."
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