In the aftermath of Frances Tiafoe's second-round French Open victory Thursday, the American turned his attention to another task: getting his game-winning racket back.
Tiafoe outlasted Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4 in a marathon match that lasted four hours and 43 minutes. He had an emphatic reaction after hitting a forehand winner to secure the victory, running to hug fans in the crowd with his racket in hand.
In the midst of his celebration, Tiafoe embraced the fans. However, when he exited the crowd, his racket was gone. As he walked off the court with what he thought was all of his rackets in his bag, Tiafoe told his team: "Wait, I think I'm down a racket," he said on the TNT Sports broadcast.
Dr. Mark Kovacs, Tiafoe's head coach, then asked if he wanted to post something to retrieve it from the fan.
"I was like, yeah, it'll be funny. I was like, here, I'll get it [back]. In the States, I'm not getting it," Tiafoe said.
So Tiafoe posted on his Instagram story that he'll give two tickets for his next match if the fan returns the racket. Soon thereafter, a member of his team snapped a selfie with the person who had it, tagging Tiafoe and writing: "keep your racquet in your hands brotha." The fan held up what were seemingly shoes from Tiafoe's match. There was no mention of if the tickets were also distributed.
The lime green racket is one of eight Tiafoe travels with to tournaments. He had a simple explanation as to why he wanted it back.
"I mean I won the match with it, it's gotta be good luck," he said.
Tiafoe will face Portugal's Jaime Faria in the third round Saturday, with lime green surely part of the match.
