Frances Tiafoe Makes Emotional Confession After Back to Back Struggles: “Not at the Level”

Frances Tiafoe hasn’t had the best season so far, but he’s keeping his head high. His 2025 season saw him struggle with consistency, and his singles ranking dropped outside the ATP Top 25 by September. He only made one final, in Houston, and reached the quarterfinals at the French Open. Overall, the American has struggled against top-10 opponents. His season win-loss record sits at 25-21. Now, as he heads into the Tokyo Open and the Asian swing, everyone’s asking what’s on his mind.

Tiafoe couldn’t have summed it up any more honestly when he spoke to Olympics.com ahead of his Tokyo opener against Marton Fucsovics. “Average at best,” he confessed, looking back on his year so far. He didn’t mince words about the grind. “I lost a lot of tough ones, struggled to put matches together like the three, four in a row that you kind of need to sit on top of the game.” He’s spot on, consistency has been the real issue these past two seasons. He still hasn’t captured a title since Stuttgart in 2023.

The missed chances clearly got to him. “And I didn’t have a couple of big results that I normally have every year. I have a chance to end strong and put some things together. But ultimately, it’s been a very up-and-down year.” You can hear the frustration in that. He didn’t shy away from the honest self-critique: “This year, I played nervous. Not at the level I’m capable of.”

Twelve months ago, things were very different for Tiafoe. He charged all the way to the US Open semifinals and was just one set from his first Grand Slam final. “A year ago, I was one set away from making the (US Open) final. I think from that point you gotta keep standing. Not playing with enough hunger. You gotta prove it each and every week in tennis, and I think that’s something I haven’t been doing.”

Last year at the US Open, Frances Tiafoe lit up the court, making it to his second career semifinal. His epic five-set battle with Taylor Fritz was a nail-biter, lasting over three hours with scores of 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Tiafoe held a two-sets-to-one lead but fell victim to cramping in the final sets. That physical struggle interrupted his rhythm, and he couldn’t sustain his form to close it out.

Still, this year, Tiafoe’s sights were set high: to lift the US Open trophy and finish the year inside the Top 10, maybe even cracking the Top 5. He hit a career-best No. 10 ranking back in June 2023 but has bounced up and down since, thanks to a title drought. Ready to take another shot, he joked with Hailey Baptiste on the WTA socials about retirement if he wins it all. “When we’re all here, I’d like to finish in the top 10. I feel like it’s time. It’s this week and next week. That’s how it is for me. No, seriously, I’ll obviously try to win it (the US Open). If I do, I’m out of here. I’ll leave you, buddy.”

But it wasn’t meant to be. His home slam ended with a tough third-round loss to Jan-Lennard Struff, which was a blow. But even with the setbacks, Tiafoe isn’t looking back. He sees opportunity with the Asian swing and is eager to “put some things together.” However, he didn’t have the smoothest start to the Asian swing as he had hoped.

France Tiafoe faces a tough loss in Japan

On Wednesday, Tiafoe’s 2025 Japan Open campaign ended just as it began. He took on qualifier Marton Fucsovics, who shocked the eighth seed with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory. The American suffered his first opening-round hard-court loss of the season in a topsy-turvy decider featuring three service breaks. Despite pressing hard in the final set, Tiafoe’s first serve stayed inconsistent, and Fucsovics edged out the win by winning a string of grueling baseline rallies.

The 27-year-old’s frustration exploded right after the match ended. Following a forehand winner from Fucsovics that sealed the upset, Tiafoe smashed his Yonex racket repeatedly against the court, drawing gasps from the crowd. This loss plunged Tiafoe down to 29th in the ATP rankings and marked his fourth straight defeat after exits at the US Open and two tough Davis Cup losses to the Czech Republic earlier last week.

In Davis Cup play, Frances Tiafoe fell in straight sets to Czech No. 1 Jiri Lehecka in front of a packed crowd. Though buoyed by teammate Ben Shelton’s cheers, Tiafoe couldn’t match Lehecka’s pace and consistency. After the match, Frances Tiafoe offered a heartfelt apology to the fans. “I think that’s what sucks, right? Obviously, you know, fans in the States, man, I got some love for them,” he said.

“They’ve really gotten behind me in my last few years as I stepped into my quote, unquote, prime. Feeling the arena felt great. Obviously, I want to bring out a better product for them. They paid their hard-earned money to watch. It’s tough when you don’t bring your best product out for them.”

For now, he may be out of the singles tournament at Tokyo, but will be playing at doubles with Brandon Nakashima. Can the American duo turn the tide and create some magic on court?