‘Super emotional’ Frances Tiafoe wins Stuttgart title to break into men’s tennis top 10

STUTTGART – Frances Tiafoe became only the third African-American man to reach the top 10 in the world rankings, joining Arthur Ashe and James Blake, after the 25-year-old captured his third career title in Stuttgart on Sunday.

The 2022 US Open semi-finalist survived a championship point in the third-set tiebreak to seal a thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (10-8) win over German Jan-Lennard Struff for his first grass-court crown ahead of next month’s Grand Slam at Wimbledon.

Tiafoe, whose immigrant parents settled in the United States after fleeing the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, said reaching a career-high No. 10 was something that he would never forget.

“Super emotional. For a guy like me, with my story and everything,” said Tiafoe, who was exposed to the sport when his father worked as a caretaker at a tennis centre in Maryland.

“I’m a guy who shouldn’t even really be here doing half the things he’s doing.

“And now when you say his name, you can say he’s top 10 in the world.

“So (that is) something that no one can take from you and I’m going to remember that forever. And hopefully, I can ride that for a long time.”

His achievement means that he and No. 8 Taylor Fritz are the first Americans in the top 10 since Mardy Fish and John Isner in May 2012.

He has also won titles on every surface, after claiming the Houston clay-court crown earlier in 2023, to add to his 2018 triumph on the hard courts of Delray Beach.

“It shows that I’m a complete player. When I’m locked in, I can play on every surface,” Tiafoe said.

He has “big hopes” for Queen’s Club, a big event on grass that began on Monday, but added that Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round in 2022, was his main goal.

He added: “I want to make an impression at that tournament.”

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz will be the top seed at Queen’s Club, where he is making his tournament debut. He faces Frenchman Arthur Fils on Tuesday and knows he has a lot of adjustments to make if he is to be a contender on grass.

He is coming off a disappointing French Open where the 20-year-old, who had warmed up for the clay-court Grand Slam with titles in Barcelona and Madrid, suffered severe cramp during a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 semi-final loss to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz is playing in only the third grass-court tournament of his career at tour level this week and he said his practice on the surface had been limited.

“I wasn’t able to practise too much at home as we have no grass courts,” he added. “I need to adapt my movement and shots on the grass, but I’m really happy with the practice I have had here.”

Alcaraz, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2022 before winning the US Open on the hard courts of New York, said how well he moves on grass would be key.

“You need to be more careful than other surfaces,” he noted. “The most comfortable is going to the net and playing aggressively all the time. For me, it’s similar to other surfaces with my style.

“There are a lot of players who slice on grass. I’m not one of them, so I have to think about movement.

“For me, it’s more tiring when you’re moving on grass. It’s totally different, so you have to be really specific.” REUTERS