Frances Tiafoe withdraws from four events and ends his 2025 season early

Wednesday, 08 October 2025 at 14:14

byErik Virostko

Frances Tiafoe rapidly changed his plans for the upcoming weeks after withdrawing from all events he signed up for.

Tiafoe's 2025 season went much differently than he probably anticipated when the year started. He finished his third consecutive season inside the Top 20 last year and certainly aimed to go even higher this year. But that didn't go according to expectations.

Currently, Tiafoe is on a five-match losing streak, and he will end this season with the same streak, as he has decided to end it early. The 27-year-old planned a busy next few weeks, but after losing in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters, he changed his plans.

Tiafoe appeared on the entry lists for the European Open in Brussels, the Vienna Open, the Paris Masters, and even the Moselle Open in Metz. But he now withdrew from all of those events, which means he ended his season early, as there are no more tournaments left for him to play.

That means he joined the growing list of players who ended their 2025 season early. Jack Draper ended this season early because of an injury, and the likes of Daria Kasatkina, Elina Svitolina, and Beatriz Haddad Maia also didn't want to compete anymore after struggling in the closing stages of this season.

Frances Tiafoe sees his 2025 season as "average at best"

Tiafoe recently spoke to Olympics.com, and during the interview, he was asked to rate his 2025 season. He knows that this year could have been more successful for him, which is why he called this season average.

"Average at best. I lost a lot of tough ones, struggled to put matches together like the three, four in a row that you kind of need to sit on top of the game. And I didn't have a couple of big results that I normally have every year. I have a chance to end strong and put some things together. But ultimately, it's been a very up-and-down year."

"A year ago, I was one set away from making the (US Open) final. I think from that point you gotta keep standing. Not playing with enough hunger. You gotta prove it each and every week in tennis, and I think that's something I haven't been doing. This year, I played nervous. Not at the level I’m capable of."

Frances Tiafoe sees Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as motivation

Although Tiafoe will end the 2025 season outside the Top 20, he still has big plans for his tennis career. He trusts his game and believes that there is still someone who could potentially challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

"There's a couple more guys who've got to join them. I'm not saying beat them, but there's got to be (other) guys - and that motivates me. I’m like, yo, who's that third guy? Who's that fourth guy? Novak (Djokovic) doesn't count. He’s 40. I love him, but doesn't count. He’s 40. He's a GOAT, he's the best player of all time. He's not with those guys."

"Who is that other guy or two to be there and maybe beat these guys? That would be the quote-unquote Novak and (Andy) Murray - before Novak went and did what he did. “Who are those guys? And there's a bunch of guys who can be that guy, right? So that's really motivating me. It's like, 'See big picture.' That's motivating."

"Everyone's puzzle looks different, everyone's style looks different. But the biggest thing is the intensity they’re playing at, how fast they’re playing at. With Jannik, you know what product you're going to get from him every single day. Alcaraz is more similar to me, as in the flashier talent or whatever, but still, his effort and what he brings out is the same every day. If I can get more of that, bring in a high-intensity effort to practice, I’ll be all right."

Frances Tiafoe teases "a different version" of himself for 2026

Tiafoe seems to be determined to improve. He knows this season was not good enough for his own standards, which is why he wants to improve. He wants to improve because he knows he can play much better than he did in 2025, and that's why he aims to do so in 2026.

"You can expect a different version. A version that’s yes, he's going to be a smiling guy, but he's going to be going to be there f***ing about it and hopefully, hopefully, that gets me to where I'm trying to go. I’m just trying to gain all the good habits for next year."

"Next year, I want to have one of the best seasons that I've ever had, and I want to start now. I want to start playing the right way, be tough week in, week out. Be consistent. Show up. Show up and see where that takes me. Stay in the water for nine months and see what happens. Being super locked in and not bulls***ting and not messing around - see where that takes you."

"And then you look back in nine months to a year and be like 'yeah, that was cool or maybe I should change this'. But that’s my thing. I just want to keep showing up. I got a window. The game's open, I got a window, I've got the capability, and the biggest thing probably to being consistent is just being obsessed. You've got to be obsessed with the s*** man. If you want to be really good, you have to be obsessed with it, and that will take me a long way."