‘One, two, three, FOE!’

’24 FINALIST FRANCES TIAFOE SURGING ON FAMILIAR GROUND

By Richard Osborn

It was, and in many ways remains, his greatest moment on a tennis court.

It came two years ago on these blue-on-blue courts in Mason, Ohio, that Frances Tiafoe broke through to his first ATP Masters 1000 final, clinched by an exhilarating 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) turnaround against Dane Holger Rune in which he saved two match points.

Sure, he’d played some big matches before. Like the time he stunned then third-ranked Rafael Nadal in four sets in Arthur Ashe Stadium en route to his first US Open semifinal. Or that time, also in Flushing Meadows, that as a 19-year-old he pushed Roger Federer to the brink. Or the time he clinched Team World’s first-ever Laver Cup title in London, with the Big Three of Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic all looking on.

But there was something special about the American’s run to the 2024 Cincinnati Open title match. Like so many have, Tiafoe would come up short against world-beater Jannik Sinner in the final, 7-6(4), 6-2. But even in defeat, he would call it “the best week of my career.”

It was a wakeup call, too, for a player who, in his own words, had taken the game for granted, who didn’t fully appreciate his lot in life, who had cycled through coaches in a meandering search of himself. Those feel-good vibes are in the air again at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in 2026, where Tiafoe has again played his way into the quarterfinals.

The fans are buying in, too. Chants of ‘ONE, TWO, THREE, FOE!’ have echoed across the Grandstand, across P&G Stadium Court. His opponent’s backers did their collective best to counter during his third-round match: ‘SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TIEN!’ (To no avail, as Tiafoe downed his 20-year-old countryman Learner Tien, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.)

Tiafoe followed that with a dominant 6-3, 6-4 dismissal of Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, playing the same kind of tennis that landed him in the finals here two years ago. The right-hand surgery he underwent after the National Bank Open to remove a persistent cyst doesn’t seem to have affected him negatively. Next up is a high-stakes Friday Night Lights tussle with 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti, against whom he’s an even 3-3. Ironically, he defeated the Italian en route to that title match here in Cincinnati in 2024.

As Tiafoe said at his hometown tournament in D.C. earlier this month, a stricter training regimen has been paying dividends.

“I was pretty fly-by-night last year, kind of just doing what I felt like doing,” said Tiafoe, who split with coach David Witt in October 2025 and is now working with Mark Kovacs. “I feel my routine is definitely helping me be locked, to show up every day and continue to try to give my best self. Just trying to be better each day, like more in a holistic-type situation, not just on the court. I want to improve myself off the court. I want to be a better brother, a better boyfriend, a better son. That all kind of helps me to be a better player in the end.”

Tiafoe is one of four American men who advanced to the elite eight, joining compatriots Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Brandon Nakashima. That hadn’t happened in Cincinnati since 1995.

“I’ve been extremely consistent this year, winning a lot of matches,” said Tiafoe, ranked No. 23. “It’s been really consistent. I’ve been really happy with it. I’ve been giving myself a chance week in, week out in the draws of beating guys and I guess making it super tough for guys. Every match I’ve played, we’re going to the wire, whether I win or lose. It’s been a lot of fun. I hope to continue.”