Thursday, February 6 was a nightmarish day for Frances Tiafoe as he suffered a premature exit in Dallas. The fifth seed arrived for the home event on the back of a hard-fought second-round exit at the Australian Open, and a Round of 16 loss in Brisbane. He had the opportunity to gain ranking points following the Dallas Open’s conversion from an ATP 250 event to an ATP 500 this year. But it went begging, as he lost to Yoshihito Nishioka in a hard-fought three-setter in the Round of 16. The 27-year-old, however, is not dwelling much on it. He is already back on the court and has, subsequently, shared a healthy message for his fans on social media.

Despite recording an impressive opening-round victory in Dallas, Tiafoe couldn’t capitalize on his strengths against Nishioka. He won the first set against the World No. 67 but, his gameplan suffered a setback as the Japanese player fired on all cylinders to clinch the next two, as he concluded the contest 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Following Thursday’s defeat, Tiafoe’s win percentage for the season stands at 50%. After walking away with $40,365 as prize money for his R2 attendance in Dallas, the two-time US Open semifinalist took to his official Instagram handle to upload two stories for his fans. In the first clip, the American sensation reposted a story where he took back to the court for an indoor court practice session. He captioned the video, “Back to it,” and then he shared a motivational post.

Tiafoe’s second story featured a short IG reel with encouraging words that read – “The man you’re becoming is gonna shock a lot of people. Dear son, lock-in. You got this.” For those unaware, Tiafoe has yet to register noteworthy tour-level results outside the States. As for the men’s US tennis, all five Americans among the eight players playing in the Round of 16 in Dallas lost their respective clashes.

The list included American No. 1 Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Tiafoe, qualifiers Ethan Quinn and Michael Mmoh. With their exit, No. 3 seed Tommy Paul remains the only American player to reach the last four of the ATP 500 tournament. However, Tiafoe seems determined to stay focused on the task and stay true to his mission to top the ATP charts.

The 27-year-old even reserved a few words to highlight his poignant tennis journey before wrapping up his singles campaign in Dallas.

Frances Tiafoe reveals crucial elements responsible for his rise to prominence

Frances Tiafoe and his compatriots Coco Gauff, and the Williams sisters (Serena Williams and Venus Williams), among others, are some of the key personalities responsible for strengthening the Black Community’s footing on the tour. During his stay in Dallas, Tiafoe took some time out to reveal how he managed to overcome adversities by believing in himself and consistently working on his craft.

In a video shared on Instagram, the American player stated that no dream is too big if someone puts their mind to it, with the key element being hard work. “There’s no secret to it. It’s hard work…Seeing yourself in a different place than where your feet are…When we (are) in that tough adversity space and the odds are against us, opportunities against us…but having that inner belief (and) having good people around you to get you go through the moments.”

Continuing further, he added, “But you got to dream so big for it to then be reality. Never let anybody step down on your dreams. No dream too big fear you in a sense where you don’t want to do,” he added.

For now, Tiafoe will likely focus on fine-tuning his on-court skills before he marks another tour-level appearance in the coming weeks. Do you think the Big Foe will be able to make a mark moving forward in the season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.