Frances Tiafoe's shock Barcelona Open loss makes fan doubt American's interest in tennis
Frances Tiafoe's run at the Barcelona Open ended with a shocking opening-round defeat to Jaume Munar. Several fans slammed the American for his performance despite starting the match well.
Tiafoe had an impressive start to the fixture as he took the opening set 6-2. However, Munar bounced back to take the second set 7-5 and force the match to a decider. The Spaniard dominated the final set and won it to register a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win and eliminate Tiafoe from the Barcelona Open. This is the American's fourth defeat to Munar in their last five matches.
Several fans criticized Frances Tiafoe's performance, with one stating that he looked disinterested when the scores were 5-5 in the second set.
"Tiafoe looking completely uninterested in a 6-2 5-5 match where he needs to hold serve is the most Tiafoe thing ever. Lame a** player," the fan wrote.
One fan stated that Tiafoe was just traveling to a tournament for one day.
"Tiafoe is just traveling to tournaments for a day. Him and his girlfriend are spending the remainder of the week sightseeing," the fan said.
Here are some other reactions to Tiafoe's defeat to Munar:
"You bet on Tiafoe 10 times, you cry 9 times. Yet you still bet on him. Even when you obviously know the big clown that he is," one fan said.
"I knew Tiafoe winning a match easily was to good to be true," another fan stated.
"Nope, Tiafoe just took good money to lose. After all it's just a job," one fan commented.
"Tiafoe might just as well become a part-time player who plays only the North American summer swing," one individual remarked.
Frances Tiafoe has won four out of seven clay-court matches so far in 2025
Frances Tiafoe has not had the best of starts to his 2025 season, with ten wins out of 19 matches. The American has played seven matches on clay so far, winning four of them.
Tiafoe's first clay-court tournament was the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, where he reached the final with straight-set wins over Adam Walton, fifth seed Alex Michelsen and fourth seed Brandon Nakashima. He faced Jenson Brooksby and suffered a 4-6, 2-6 defeat.
Tiafoe then competed at the Monte-Carlo Masters and booked his place in the second round with a hard-fought 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5) win over Miomir Kecmanovic. The 27-year-old then took on Alexei Popyrin and won the opening set 6-3 before the Aussie bounced back to bag a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Following his defeat at the Barcelona Open, Tiafoe is next scheduled to compete at the Madrid Open, which will start on April 21. He will make his fifth appearance at the Masters 1000 event, with his best performance being the third round in 2021 and 2023. The American suffered a second-round exit at the tournament last year, losing 6-7(1), 6-3, 4-6.