Two years after a breakthrough, where do we stand on Frances Tiafoe?

When Corentin Moutet ripped a backhand past Frances Tiafoe to win their first-round match at the Murray River Open on Monday, he leapt in the air and shouted happily. Then he quickly turned around, settled back down, and shook hands with Tiafoe, who had been watching his celebration from just a few feet away.

Moutet, it seemed, didn’t want to rub his victory in his opponent’s face. Which was understandable, because for much of their two-and-a-half-hour match, Tiafoe had been the better player. He won the first set convincingly. He hit the ball bigger and controlled the majority of the rallies. He seemed to be on the verge of pulling ahead in the second set. And he came back from 1-4 down to level the score at 4-4 in the third.

Yet in the points that mattered most, some combination of bad luck for Tiafoe and resourcefulness by Moutet combined to foil the American. With Tiafoe serving at 4-5 in the second set, Moutet reached out and stabbed a return that floated up and landed on the outside of the sideline. Two points later, he reflexed a return that landed on the back of the baseline. In the final game of the match, he mishit a forehand that wobbled in the air and dove down just inside the baseline. In all three cases, the Frenchman made the most of his good fortune and won the point.

In the end, the 80th-ranked Moutet deserved the win because he raised his energy level, and his playing level, at the right time. But for some U.S. fans, there was a frustrating familiarity to the proceedings.

Tiafoe fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Moutet on Monday in Melbourne. (Getty Images)

If there’s one male player that American tennis fans would like to see make a sustained breakthrough in 2021, it would probably be Tiafoe. He’s a friendly, engaging, unassuming person with an easy laugh. He has an inspiring immigrant-American backstory. He won the ATP’s Humanitarian Award last year, for his work around the George Floyd protests. He taps into popular sports culture with his LeBron-style victory stomps, and when he has a head of steam, he can play a dynamic brand of tennis. At 23, he’s no longer a novice, and should be entering the prime of his career.

So far, despite flashes of brilliance and grit, that sustained Tiafoe breakthrough has yet to materialize. Two years ago, he reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and last fall he made it to the round of 16 at the US Open. But he began 2021 ranked No. 62, seventh-best among U.S. men, and 32 spots below his fellow 23-year-old Taylor Fritz. In some ways, Tiafoe’s run to the Aussie Open quarters was a blessing and a curse. It lifted him into the Top 30, but when he lost those points last January, his ranking sank again, and some of the wind seemed to go out his sails.

Tiafoe says the downtime during the pandemic—which included a case of Covid last summer—helped him put those ups and down behind him and start 2021 with a fresh outlook.

“I looked at the guy in the mirror and asked, ‘Why are you here?’” Tiafoe told the ATP’s website in January. “‘What are the things you need to change and what are the things you need to keep building on?’

“I just wanted to be a different guy.”

Tiafoe has teamed with Ferreira in hopes of a 2021 re-breakthrough. (Getty Images)

What needed to change? Tiafoe began training with former pro Wayne Ferreira before the pandemic. The South African says they’ve worked on Tiafoe’s technique on his serve and forehand, which are admittedly unorthodox. More than that, though, Ferreira has tried to increase Tiafoe’s attention span, and ability to concentrate over long periods. That means getting his phone out of his hand and getting him away from friends for longer periods of time. Tennis matches require your undivided attention for hours at a time, which doesn’t come naturally to the social-media addicted.

“Instead of the guy who has fun,” Tiafoe said, “I’m trying to be the guy who is legendary…I’m ready to do a lot of great things in 2021.”

Tiafoe tends to thrive when he has time to build momentum and find a rhythm, the way he can in long, physical, best-of-five-set matches. Best of-three forces you to seize the moment and take your chances, though, and that’s what he didn’t do on Monday. Instead, at the end of each of the last two sets, it was Moutet who took the initiative and made his own good luck.

Is there a lack of self-belief in Tiafoe in those crucial moments? Or is it a matter of him recognizing when he needs a burst of energy and positivity? Tiafoe says he’s ready to make it happen and make good on his potential in 2021. Tennis fans in the U.S. are ready, too.