America’s tennis star
Frances Tiafoe has explained former
world number one Switzerland’s
Roger Federer’s presence in the stands during the
US Open in an interesting manner. The fourth and final Grand Slam of the year is
moving towards conclusion where players from all over the world are
participating to showcase their talent and secure the ultimate prize.
Tiafoe is currently taking part in the US Open and booked
his place in the semifinal of the mega-event after his opponent Grigor Dimitrov
was forced to retire from the contest in the fourth round. The final score of
the match was 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 4-1. During the match, one presence in the stands caught
the eye of the crowd and that was of the former world number one Federer.
The 43-year-old, who is regarded as one of the greatest
players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category after having won
as many as 20 Grand Slam titles, had a fabulous record while playing at the
Flashing Meadows where he lifted the title five times. Tiafoe, while speaking to the media after the match,
explained Federer’s presence in the stands in an interesting manner. The
Maryland-born was of the opinion that Federer, while sitting in the suite,
looked exactly the same as he used to look while playing at the court with no
sweat and T-shit ironed perfectly.
“The way he looked in the suite was the same
way he looked when he was playing,” he said with a smile on his face. “No
sweating. T shirts ironed perfect, hair perfect. What’s up with this dude, man?
It was just funny man. I give him crap about that all the time. But what a guy,
what a legend. So nice that he is enjoying his life, doing his things like just
popping in, wherever he kind of wants to and everyone embraces him. He is such
an icon.”
Tiafoe is set to face his fellow countryman Taylor Fritz in what
would be an all-American semifinal. The 26-year-old defeated Germany’s Alexander
Zverev in the quarterfinal with a score of 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.