A Day After Being Lauded, Frances Tiafoe Lives Up to the Standards Set by Serena Williams? Former Coach as He Reaches First-Ever Grass Court Final

The future of men’s tennis looks bright for the US, with a bunch of promising talents already making a mark on the ATP tour. Leading the crop are exciting players like Taylor Fritz, Sebastian Korda, and Frances Tiafoe. The 2022 season has been the most prominent for the lot, as they showed their true mettle in front of the tennis world. While speaking of the encouraging prospects of American tennis in the near future in a recent podcast, Rick Macci, former coach of the legendary Serena Williams, heaped praise on the aforementioned stars, especially 25-year-old Frances Tiafoe. This seems all the more prophetic now, with Tiafoe reaching his first-ever grass-court final at Stuttgart Open just a day later.

Frances Tiafoe backs up high praise from Macci with an impressive Stuttgart Open run

In his latest appearance in the podcast ‘Holding Court’ hosted by American tennis legend John McEnroe’s younger brother Patrick McEnroe, Rick Macci expressed his high hopes for the current lot of American tennis players on the ATP circuit. The ex-coach of the 23-time grand slam champion spoke very highly of Frances Tiafoe as he called him a ‘magician’ and ‘a great athlete’.

Just a day later, Tiafoe justified Macci’s applause by reaching his maiden grass-court final at the Stuttgart Open. He defeated a resilient Marton Fucsovics in a thrilling semi-final encounter, as he warded off 6 set points from the Hungarian in the second set. He finally secured a 6-3, 7-6 (11) victory over Fucsovics to book his place in the finals. Frances Tiafoe will be facing German Jan-Lennard Struff in the finals for the Stuttgart Open crown.

It certainly will provide the American with some much needed confidence ahead of the showpiece event at SW19.

Much needed momentum before Wimbledon

As the grass court season shapes up, it is very important to build the right momentum as we move towards Wimbledon. And with such a strong performance at the Stuttgart Open, Frances Tiafoe will certainly be in the perfect frame of mind before the 3rd major of the year. If Tiafoe can win the finals in Stuttgart, he will not only clinch the 3rd ATP title of his career but also break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time. Surely, the perfect confidence booster he needs before Wimbledon, which is slated to go underway from the 3rd of July.

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Only time will tell whether Frances Tiafoe can take his game to the next level and bag a grand slam. But as Rick Macci pointed out, the immense potential of the 25-year-old American is certainly undeniable.

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