In a series of exclusive features for SuperSport.com, Grant Shub speaks to former world No 6 and current coach of Frances Tiafoe, Wayne Ferreira, about his protege’s rise through the ranks and what we can expect from the 2023 edition of the US Open.
Having bowed out in the third round of Wimbledon to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets, Frances Tiafoe cut a disconsolate figure in the locker room at the All England Club. The usually jovial Tiafoe was left “shocked” by his performance and the first person he turned to for honest advice was coach Ferreira, who he’s been working with since 2020.
Tiafoe’s rise to the top 10 of the sport has been impressive and his run to last year’s US Open semifinal underlines that he has what it takes to mix it with the best players in the world. However, his ascent to the summit of the sport won’t be linear and there will be highs and lows for the affable 25-year-old who is extremely popular on the tennis circuit.
FERREIRA IS THE YIN TO TIAFOE’S YANG
“I think it’s the yin and yang with Frances and I,” Ferreira tells SuperSport.com from New York. “He needs to have somebody like me on his back trying to help him do the right thing all the time so that you don’t steer in the wrong direction. Frances is not someone who can be overly-serious and focused all the time so I think it works well for players to have people that are tough on them and I don’t let Frances get away with everything!”
Tiafoe, who learned how to play tennis at the courts where his father, Frances Sr, worked as a janitor, is best suited to hard courts and Ferreira expects a spike in terms of performance having already had four tournaments to transition from the grass courts.
TIAFOE BETTER SUITED TO HARD COURTS
“Having grown up on hard courts, they suit Frances’s game better,” says Ferreira, who won 15 singles titles during his playing career. “On this particular court, the ball is going through the air pretty quickly and staying quite low. To me, the US Open courts seem faster than the grass courts and they are also a little bit easier in terms of movement.”
It’s been 20 years since an American player won the US Open and Ferreira believes that his charge has what it takes to become the first man since Andy Roddick to claim the Flushing Meadows title. In 2003 Roddick had a straight sets win over Juan Carlos Ferrero and extended a golden era for US tennis post-Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.
“Frances came very close last year at the US Open and, for me, he was one set short of (winning) it,” says Ferreira, who saw his player go down to current world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz in five grueling sets, having won the first and the fourth via tie-breakers.
ALCARAZ, DJOKOVIC SETTING THE STANDARD
“After the final Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic played in Cincinnati there is no doubt that they are the two favourites by a long way to win this year’s tournament,” says Ferreira, whose best result at the US Open as a player was a quarterfinal appearance in 1992.
“They are just unbelievably good players and a step above everyone else class-wise. Alcaraz is the only one who has been able to push Novak lately so it’s tough for everybody else but you’ve got to find a way to beat them or they will just keep winning.”
“In some ways Frances has got a way to go to reach that level but he is not far behind. It comes down to consistency week-in and week-out. On the day, I think Frances always has a chance and can beat them, however, consistently they are a lot better than he is.”
LEFTY LEARNER IS TIAFOE’S OPENING TEST
But before casting his mind to the latter rounds and a potential date with Djokovic or a rematch with Alcaraz, Tiafoe will have to navigate safe passage in the opening rounds.
In his first round match, his opponent is 17-year-old fellow American Learner Tien, who is ranked 770th in the world but is a potential banana skin if Tiafoe isn’t totally focused.
“Learner seems to be a good ball striker and is a lefty which is always different. He looks solid but isn’t overly big so doesn’t have a lot of weapons. However, he is consistent and moves well so I think he’ll be a good test for Frances in the first round.”
Ferreira says that Tiafoe has to be careful not to feel like it’s too easy and needs to keep his head down and concentrate. After a whirlwind of media commitments and sponsorship events with the likes of Nike and Yonex, Tiafoe has now put all other distractions aside and is fully focused on executing his plans on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It will be good for Frances to get through the first two or three rounds in straight sets and try to conserve as much energy as he can,” says Ferreira. “We had a team dinner on Saturday night, which is a tradition, and while our approach is to take it one match at a time, we will look for Frances to do the same as last year and make the semifinals.”
