Following his five-set thriller against Carlos Alcaraz Garfia on Friday, an emotional Frances Tiafoe gave a brilliant final message before exiting Arthur Ashe Stadium. The American suffered a nail-biting 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (7), and 6-3 defeat in the US Open 2022 semi-finals against the Spaniard, in a match that lasted over five hours.
Tiafoe confident he can win US Open someday
Frances Tiafeo may have not gone all the way at the US Open 2022 tournament but he certainly won many hearts with his outstanding performances against some of the best players in the world. On his way to the final, the 24-year-old defeated 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and ninth seed Andrey Rublev amongst others. And even when Tiafoe suffered defeat, he did not go down without a fight.
Following his classic match against Carlos Alcaraz Garfia, an emotional Tiafoe said, “I gave everything I had these past two weeks. I came here wanting to win a US Open and I feel like I let you guys down. This one really, really hurts. Too good from Carlos. I am going to come back and I will win this thing one day.”
After his post-match interview, he expanded on his thoughts while speaking to reporters shortly after. “I proved that I can play with the best and I’m capable of winning Grand Slams,” added Tiafoe who has his head held high after a fantastic US Open 2022 tournament.
He then went on to add how he has become more consistent by stating, “Throughout my career, I’ve been pretty sporadic. Playing well, veering off for a while. I’ve always backed myself against the best players in the world. I’m doing it on a consistent basis, starting to beat guys more readily. I’m ready to take the next step. I’m definitely falling in love with the process and doing the work much more. I’m working smarter.”
Tiafoe then concluded his comments by explaining what a brilliant contest he and Alcaraz put up by stating, “Obviously I would have loved to win tonight. But I think tennis won tonight.” Following an outstanding win over Tiafoe, Alcaraz will now face Casper Ruud in the US Open 2022 finals.