"The game needs to introduce fanfare and more fan engagement": Tiafoe on return home believes tennis needs to loosen up
ATP
Tennis star Frances Tiafoe is one of the dark horses to make a good run at the 2023 US Open, and the American hopes the electric atmosphere at Flushing Meadows can be replicated at most tournaments.
Tiafoe stunned the world with a semifinal run in New York last year, spurred on by a raucous home crowd. Perhaps this is why the World No.10 believes fans should have more rights at tennis events, which would lead to greater engagement and value for their money.
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Tennis should be modernized, according to Tiafoe
The Maryland native would like to see fans being able to scream and shout during matches, similar to fan behavior in basketball and soccer games around the world.
"The game needs to introduce fanfare and more fan engagement,” said Tiafoe in an interview with Time magazine. “They need to be able to move around, talk a little bit. We need to evolve with the times. Otherwise we’re going to be left behind.
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"New Yorkers love great entertainment. Everyone is tapped into tennis. The energy is second to none. Some people are made for it. Some people aren’t. I feel like I can make that stadium shake.”
Tiafoe defeated compatriot Learner Tien in his opening round match at the 2023 US Open, and next faces Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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