Reilly Opelka jumps to Tiafoe's defence over Laver Cup controversy

ATP
Sunday, 02 October 2022 at 01:22
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Frances Tiafoe delivered the crucial point for Team World to win their first Laver Cup but even before that, he was talked about on social media.
The American teamed up with Jack Sock to take on Federer and Nadal in the Swiss player's final match on the Tour and they defeated him. As expected it got him plenty of hate on social media but on top of that, he was called out by multiple fans for seemingly aiming at Federer and Nadal with his return in two consecutive points.
A fan wrote on Twitter:
"While I’m a fan of Frances Tiafoe, I found it a bit weird that he tried to pelt both Roger and Rafa as hard as he could in the final moments of Roger’s career. He’s a professional and has the entire court open. Back-to-back points? I’m not sure Kyrgios would’ve even done that."
Opelka jumped into the conversation to defend Tiafoe:
"You really can't make this stuff up. Surely this is a joke?"
A back and forth ensued between the fan and Opelka with Opelka ultimately explaining that there is a clear goal with a return like that, especially in doubles and especially when facing a lefty. He also added that the fan clearly never played tennis:
"If you played tennis you would know that returning a 115+ mph serve from a lefty isnt the easiest thing to do. And most of the time the safest return is big down the middle. Clearly you have never played, which is why i recommend u take ur talents to pickleball."

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