"Felt like I was Roger Federer" - Frances Tiafoe on how his 'fun' approach to tennis made him unplayable against Daniil Medvedev on Laver Cup Day 2
Frances Tiafoe has claimed that he felt like Roger Federer during certain periods of his 2024 Laver Cup clash against Daniil Medvedev. Despite losing the first set and falling behind, Tiafoe was able to come back and secure a victory for Team World.
The 2022 and 2024 US Open semifinalist entered the match against the Russian on Saturday, September 21, with a losing record of 0-5 in their ATP Tour head-to-head. Medvedev's comfortable 6-3 win in the first set seemed to indicate that the familiar pattern of Tiafoe's losses would continue.
However, the former World No. 1 soon started making errors, and Tiafoe raised his own game to win the second set 6-4. As is the Laver Cup norm, the third and decisive set went to a first-to-10-points match tiebreak. Here, the American dominated, with Medvedev playing catch-up for the most part. Ultimately, Tiafoe earned a point for Team World by winning the tiebreak 10-5.
In his post-match on-court interview, Tiafoe was asked how he managed to turn the tables on Medvedev. The former World No. 10 said that he made the match a 'fun' experience for himself, aided by his interactions with his Team World teammates.
"I just started having fun, laughing with my team, laughing with my team over there and here. Just having a bit of fun and I started really finding my rhythm," he said.
The 26-year-old added that at one point during the second set and the match tiebreak, he felt as if he was playing as effortlessly as the great Roger Federer, one of the co-founders of the Laver Cup.
"Court's obviously much slower than I've been used to playing on so it's tough playing Daniil on this court but yeah, midway in the second set and in the tiebreak I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly," Tiafoe added.
Two years ago, in the aftermath of Federer's tearful farewell to tennis at the Laver Cup, Tiafoe had hailed the Swiss for the profound impact he had on tennis both on and off the court.
"No one's going to play the game like Roger Federer did" - Frances Tiafoe
During an appearance on the ATP Tennis Radio podcast in November 2022, Frances Tiafoe expressed admiration for Roger Federer, not only for his exceptional on-court skills, but also for his impeccable off-court behavior.
"No one’s going to play the game like he did. No one’s going to carry themselves like he did. He never sweated, he never had a wrinkle on his shirt. I’m happy I got to play against him. I’m happy I got to call him a friend," Tiafoe said.
Tiafoe himself had a significant role to play in the buildup to Federer's emotional tennis farewell at the Laver Cup. Along with his compatriot Jack Sock, he defeated Federer and Rafael Nadal in doubles, thus handing a loss to the Swiss in his final career outing.