Since Serena Williams’ retirement on Friday at the US Open, many current and former players have come out and congratulated her in their own ways. Some of the players told some interesting stories, including 24-year-old American tennis player Frances Tiafoe.
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In a recent press conference at the US Open, Tiafoe talked about Serena’s funny side outside the tennis court. Also, he told an interesting story about when they teamed up for a match against Roger Federer.
Frances Tiafoe tells a funny story about Serena Williams
While talking about one of his funniest memories, Tiafoe mentioned the famous match at the Hopman Cup in 2019. “Yeah, I think she’s really funny. Obviously, you guys see how fierce and the passion and stuff she has on the court. She’s very funny outside of it… Super easygoing. I can remember when we played mixed in Perth, we were playing against Federer and Belinda,” Tiafoe recalled.
“She gets aced by Roger twice. She’s like, I don’t know how this guy is acing me. She goes, Don’t worry, we’re not going to lose. Even if we do lose, I got 23, he got 20, so it’s all good (laughter). I’m just like, man, this is too much. This is how she is in general. It’s just pretty funny. That line always stood out to me. It was pretty funny,” the American tennis star further said.
Notably, in 2019, Tiafoe and Serena teamed up to take on the Swiss pair of Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic. Before that, both Serena and Roger won their respective singles matches. So, the stakes were high for the mixed doubles match. Particularly, many fans turned up to watch Federer play against Serena.
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In that match, Federer did ace Serena on multiple occasions. In the end, the Swiss pair won the match 4-2 4-3. However, this match will remain forever in the memories of many fans.
Tiafoe will face Rafael Nadal at the US Open 2022
Meanwhile, Tiafoe is having a great run at the US Open, as he has reached the fourth round. In the third round, he defeated the Argentine Diego Schwartzman in straight sets. Now, he will face the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is eying his 23rd Grand Slam title, which will match Serena’s Grand Slam tally.
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So far, Nadal and Tiafoe played two times against each and the American lost on both occasions. The American did not even win a set against the Spaniard. However, Tiafoe has been in great form of late and could pose a solid threat to Nadal.