Frances Tiafoe says the racquet he lost while celebrating his French Open second-round win with fans in the stands has been returned to him.
American 19th seed Tiafoe battled for four hours and 43 minutes in sweltering heat in Paris to beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-4.
Immediately after securing victory, Tiafoe ran over to a group of fans and embraced them in celebration while still holding his racquet. He jumped up and down with the group before breaking free to return to his seat — but the racquet was no longer in his hand.
“They were locking me in. I thought I was going to fall into the crowd at one point,” Tiafoe said. “It was fun, it was a cool moment - but I actually need that racquet.”
Tiafoe said he let go of the racquet when his arm was “getting stuck” during the celebrations, and only noticed it was missing when he walked back on court.
“I need to go shake Hubi’s [Hurkacz’s] hand and the ref’s hand. And then I’m walking off the court and I was like ‘wait, hold on, I’m down a racquet’,” Tiafoe said. “I never put that racquet back in.”
After offering a reward on Instagram of two tickets to his next match, Tiafoe confirmed the racquet had been returned to his coach.
Tiafoe, 28, is aiming to go further than his quarter-final finish at Roland Garros last year. He will next face Portugal’s unseeded Jaime Faria in the third round, after Faria’s 7-5 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 victory over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
Source: Tiafoe recovers lost racquet after French Open crowd celebration