"Incredible role model for the kids, great stuff"- Patrick McEnroe hails Frances Tiafoe after watching 24-year-old spending time with kids ahead of the Citi Open
Patrick McEnroe heaped praise on Frances Tiafoe after the latter was seen spending time with some kids ahead of the Citi Open.
The World No. 27 recently competed at the Atlanta Open and reached the semifinals following wins over Taro Daniel and Brandon Nakashima. However, he lost 1-6, 4-6 to Jenson Brooksby in the final four.
Frances Tiafoe is currently in Washington, where he will participate in the Citi Open. The ATP 500 tournament's Twitter handle posted a video of him playing and spending time with some kids from the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation.
"Frances Tiafoe here. Super excited to be back at the Citi Open, my favorite time of the year, all with all these kids and can't wait to put on a show for you guys on Wednesday. See you guys soon."
Welcome home, @FTiafoe🤗
Fresh off the Atlanta semifinals, our hometown hero is hitting with the @WTEF_DC kids 👏
#CitiOpen https://t.co/E5NDgXKShn
Patrick McEnroe heaped praise on his young compatriot and called him an incredible role model for the kids.
"Incredible role model for the kids," the 56-year-old wrote. "Great stuff."
Incredible role model for the kids. Great stuff @FTiafoe twitter.com/citiopen/statu…
Frances Tiafoe is seeded 10th at the Citi Open
Tiafoe will compete at the Citi Open as the 10th seed and will look to have a good run there. The 24-year-old has received a bye to the second round and will face either compatriot Christopher Eubanks or France's Benjamin Bonzi.
Tiafoe's highest-ranked potential opponent in his section in the third round is eighth seed Botic van de Zandschulp. So there's a fair chance of him making it to the quarterfinals of the Citi Open.
Tiafoe has won 17 out of 32 matches so far this season, reaching the final of the Estoril Open in Portugal.
The American reached the title clash of the tournament following three-set wins over Dusan Lajovic, Nuno Borges, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Sebastian Korda. However, he was beaten 3-6, 2-6 by Sebastian Baez. He also reached the last 16 of the Miami Masters but lost to Francesco Cerundolo.
Tiafoe has won six out of 12 matches on hardcourts so far this season and will look to do well in the US Open Series, starting with the Citi Open. It will be interesting to see how the World No. 27 fares at the ATP 500 tournament and the ones that follow.