Sinner and Tiafoe clash again: Remembering their heated 2021 showdown

Jannik Sinner had a tense encounter with Frances Tiafoe at the 2021 Vienna Open, which ended with the Italian criticizing his rival for being ‘disrespectful’ during the match. The World No. 1 leads the head-to-head against the American 3-1, and they will meet again tonight in the Cincinnati Open final.

The two players first faced each other in October 2019, when an 18-year-old Sinner defeated a 21-year-old Tiafoe at the European Open. A couple of weeks later, the Italian repeated the win against Big-Foe, this time at the Next Gen ATP Finals, where Sinner went on to become the champion.

However, the real controversy came in 2021 when both were well-established on the Tour, with Sinner ranked World No. 13 and Tiafoe No. 48. The American had surpassed the qualifiers and made an unexpected run to the final, defeating the 7th seed Sinner after a great comeback.

It seemed like an easy victory for Sinner, who led 6-3, 5-3 and had the serve to close out the match. However, Tiafoe began to take his time to get into position, interacted with the crowd by clapping hands, and even talked while Sinner was preparing to serve, helping him later to secure the win by 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and advance to the final.

“In my opinion, today Tiafoe went too far, has done too much,” Jannik Sinner said after the match. “It is one thing when the player tries to put on a bit of a show, but it is quite another when you start to disrespect.”

When asked about the match, Tiafoe commented: “I don’t really feel bad for that,” he responded. “Look, I mean the crowd is there for a reason. I’m able to interact with them, I’m able to do whatever.”

“I don’t feel bad for that. I think he definitely had a chance to win the match regardless. I used them to get on my side, and I started playing great tennis, but ultimately I was just having fun out there, and it went my way.”

However, Tiafoe added that they have a good relationship off the court and that he saw Sinner's great potential as a player from the beginning: “I mean, when I played Jannik in the Next Gen Finals and Antwerp back in 2019, I looked to my guys and said, ‘This guy is going to be a Grand Slam champion,’” he continued.

“He’s going to be on top of the game for a long time. We get along really well. I have nothing but respect for that guy, how he goes about his process each and every day. Well-coached with [Riccardo] Piatti, super humble guy for how young he is and everything he’s accomplished so far,” Tiafoe added.

“Tonight, the result was the result, but he’s got a great team behind him, he has a great work ethic, he does everything right, he’s gonna win Grand Slams for sure. How many I don’t know, but he’s going to have a hell of a career and probably be a Hall of Famer at the end of it.”

On Sunday, both players secured their places in the Cincinnati Open final, ensuring their fifth meeting. Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev, and Frances Tiafoe overcame Holger Rune, both enduring third-set tiebreaks before securing their spots in the final.

After Tiafoe secured his first Masters 1000 final, he was asked if he thought Sinner would be the favourite in Monday’s final: “Absolutely, for sure he is, right? He’s lost like [five] matches all year? He’s the favourite in every match he plays, no question about it. You’ve got to tip your hat to a guy like him,” Big-Foe commented on court.