When Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams teamed up for a mixed doubles clash against Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic in 2019, there was no love lost on the court.
Tiafoe and Williams formed an all-American doubles duet to take on the Swiss pairing of Federer and Bencic in the 'Battle of the Legends' match at the 2019 Hopman Cup. It was a tightly contested match, which the Swiss duo eventually won 4-2, 4-3.
While the lower-profile match may be viewed by some as a leisurely game compared to the intensity of ATP and WTA events and Grand Slams, for some it is still viewed as competitive tennis. When playing alongside Serena, Tiafoe shared his shock about the 23 Grand Slam winners' elite mentality that led to unrivalled success.
"The best S story I got, I'm playing mixed with her, we're playing Fed and Bencic. Fed is acing her left, right and centre and she is aced again. We go sit down and she's like, 'I don't get it, we can't lose this! He's not better than me, I got 23 (Grand Slams), he's got 20.' That's when I was like, you gotta be different. You have to be, this wasn't a joke!"
Clearly, playing alongside Serena helped Tiafoe reflect on his own game and offered a glimpse of what makes some players stand out above others. Before she retired after the US Open in 2022, Williams won seven Wimbledons, Australian Opens, six US Opens, and three Roland Garros titles.
It's the level of success achieved by so few in tennis and Tiafoe will hope to bring some of his learnings from Serena to his own quest for a maiden Grand Slam. The 25-year-old produced his best-ever slam performance at the 2022 US Open, when he reached the semi-final, but was eventually eliminated by tournament winner, Carlos Alcaraz.
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