French Open star offers reward after having racket stolen just seconds after winning match | Tennis | Sport
Frances Tiafoe offered a reward after his racket was taken (Image: Getty)
Frances Tiafoe made a public plea to have his racket returned after it was taken after his gruelling four-hour and 43-minute victory over Hubert Hurkacz. The No. 19 seed was taken the distance after failing to serve it out in the fourth set, but still beat the Polish former top-10 star 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-4 6-7(1) 6-4, and then celebrated with the fans on Court 14 – one of the slightly bigger outdoor courts for groundspass holders.
The American later revealed that someone nabbed his racket while he was celebrating, and offered up a reward for its safe return. As he sealed victory, an excited Tiafoe ran to the side of the court and hugged some spectators while holding his racket, jumping up and down. But it got lost in the chaos.
The 28-year-old later took to his Instagram stories to ask for it back, though he also offered something in return. Tiafoe wrote: “Unreal atmosphere on Court 14 today. But I must say to the fan who took my racket at the end when I was celebrating with y’all. Can I please have it back? I’ll bless you with two tickets to my next match.”
And it worked, very quickly at that. Less than an hour after Tiafoe shared the post, he confirmed that someone had replied and that a member of his team was already on their way to collect it.
“My guy’s going to go get it. They’re going to go get it. Yeah, the DM, Brian, he’s going to go get it. I gave a pair of shoes to Brian to go get it. I’m waiting for the text to see if the racket [is there],” he said.
“Obviously I hugged him, and I hugged him with my racket in my hand, and then I was, like, my arm is getting stuck. Man, whatever. I need to go shake Hubi’s hand and the ref’s hand. And then I’m walking off the court and I was, like, Wait, hold on, hold on, I’m down a racket. I never put that racket back in.
“Mark’s, like, I’m gonna get an Instagram post. I was, like, I think I’m going to get it. In the States I’m not getting the racket, but here, I was, like, I feel like in Europe, they love tennis so much, I think I’m gonna get it.”
Frances Tiafoe’s racket was swiped during all the commotion of his celebrations (Image: Getty)
But Tiafoe wasn’t too upset about the commotion. “It’s awesome. It’s all for good fun. I’m happy they had that moment, because I was super pumped up, and luckily for those guys to be in that moment, I think that’s something they’re going to remember, something I’m definitely going to remember. It was all great fun,” he smiled.
The world No. 22 reached the quarter-finals here a year ago, and is now through to the third round to face Portuguese qualifier Jamie Faria. Tiafoe has reached two US Open semi-finals in the past and will like his chances of reaching a first Major final after No.1 seed and title favourite Jannik Sinner suffered a shock second-round defeat, wilting in the heat while dealing with sickness.
Sinner led Juan Manuel Cerundolo by two sets and 5-1 in the first match of the day on Court Philippe-Chatrier, then fell apart. He could barely move and lost 18 consecutive points. He left the court mid-game at 5-4 in the third set for an evaluation, though he didn’t take a medical timeout. But the Italian only won two more games after that, losing 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1.
And Tiafoe revealed that the fans on Court 14 had been telling him about Sinner’s exit in the middle of his own match. “Fans are saying that during the match. I’m, like, Goddamn. I’m already up two sets to one,” he laughed.
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