TENNIS
Tiafoe about losing to Dimitrov: “It will hurt for a very long time”
The American was seen as one of the biggest threats to Djokovic and Alcaraz in Wimbledon but was defeated by Dimitrov in straight sets.
He was regarded as one of the players with the most chances of going far in Wimbledon outside the big favorites, but he couldn’t make it to the second week of the tournament.
Frances Tiafoe’s game seemed perfect for the All England Club’s conditions, as his big serve and powerful drive are especially difficult to deal with on grass, and although he did well in the first rounds, Grigor Dimitrov ended up being too much of a challenge.
The Maryland-bred player, who has recently climbed into the top 10 of the ATP rankings, had won the Boss Open in Stuttgart by defeating Jan-Lennard Struff in the final in June, so he went to London confident of making a deep run in the third major of the season.
However, things played out very differently. The 10th seed was only able to win seven games in the match against the Bulgarian, losing 6-2 6-3 6-2 in a match that was delayed because of rain after the first two sets.
Tiafoe, ‘broken’ after losing
The American, who didn’t have any break point when Dimitrov served, looked devastated after being eliminated.
“This was a really bad match. Horrible, horrible stuff. To play this poorly is very depressing, especially at Wimbledon. I genuinely think I am one of the best grass-court players in the world but I didn’t show it at all. I have to live with that”, he said.
“It will hurt for a very long time. I couldn’t hit the room or make him play. It is tough to digest. I’ve never really felt like this after a loss. I’m shocked by how I performed. I played horrendously and it is unacceptable to get broken that many times on grass”, Tiafoe added.
The 2022 US Open semifinalist admitted it will be difficult to forget his defeat.
“It just hurts, man, and I don’t know how to digest it. I was planning to go home and celebrate being in the top 10. That is going to be tough now”, he stated.
Although it may take some time to forget about his performance against Dimitrov, Tiafoe will be looking to get some good results in the next hard-court tournaments, before the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open.