"Played like I don't have an ATP point": Tiafoe laments poor Dimitrov display, calls it 'depressing' and 'unacceptable'

America’s Frances Tiafoe has revealed extreme disappointment after suffering a defeat in the third round of Wimbledon 2023.

The 25-year-old was outclassed by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the round of 32 clash with a score of 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday.

Talking about his own performance, Tiafoe admitted that his performance was ‘horrible’ on the day and that it will ‘hurt’ for a long time.

“This was a really bad match,” he said. “Horrible, horrible stuff. To play this poorly is very depressing, especially at Wimbledon. I genuinely think I am one of the best grass-court players in the world but I didn’t show it at all. I have to live with that.”

“It will hurt for a very long time. I couldn’t hit the room or make him play. It is tough to digest. I’ve never really felt like this after a loss. I’m shocked by how I performed. I played horrendously and it is unacceptable to get broken that many times on grass.”

Tiafoe further went on to state that it is hard for him to identify the reason why he was so bad against Dimitrov.

“I am already winning in life so my defeat had nothing to do with expectations. I couldn’t care less about that,” he said. “I want to win Slams for me, not for everybody else. It was just a bad performance. It’s tough to understand it, the why of it. I am top 10 in the world and played like I don’t have an ATP point.

“It was God Awful. It just hurts, man, and I don’t know how to digest it. I was planning to go home and celebrate being in the top 10. That is going to be tough now. Everyone will be excited to see me and I just won’t want to do anything.”