“I Don’t Trust These Guys”- Frances Tiafoe Exposes ‘Fake’ Player Solidarity Amid PTPA’s Lawsuit Battle

‘Big Foe’ has always been an outspoken voice on the ATP Tour. Remember what he said in July 2024, while sharing his thoughts about his performance in the last few weeks. Frances Tiafoe stirred a major uproar in the tennis world by saying, “This week last year, I was 10 in the world and now I’m barely seeded here. Losing to clowns, I hate to say it, but I’m just gonna be honest with you guys.” Fast forward nine months and Tiafoe has yet again been under the limelight with his interesting take on the ongoing discussion about the pursuit of greater prize money in tennis. What did the American tennis star say this time, though?

On March 21, the top 10 ranked players in both men’s and women’s tennis sent a letter to the Grand Slam events asking for increased prize money to have a better share of the total revenue. The tennis stars also urged all four major tournaments to open their purses and contribute to the welfare of both the ATP and the WTA Tour. Not only that, the letter also mentioned that the players now wish to have a more significant say in the Grand Slam decisions that directly influence the welfare and safety of the players.

Interesting Fact: Presently, the US Open has a total prize money of $75 million, while Wimbledon has $64 million, and it’s $58 million for the other two, i.e., the French Open and the AO.

Reacting to that letter, Frances Tiafoe’s peers like Emma Navarro said, “I talked a little bit to the other players about it and felt like it was a good idea to sign. And, yeah, I think there have been, I guess, some sort of unfair pay ratios.” Even Qinwen Zheng and Iga Swiatek said that this move could be beneficial for the players. On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz was also heard saying, “Tennis is a well-paid sport, but it can always be improved because there is a percentage that can be increased for the circuit and the players.” Amid all these, Frances Tiafoe recently appeared on The Changeover podcast. During the podcast, he shared his reaction to the PTPA vs ATP lawsuit and also spoke about why there’s no real unity in professional tennis.

In that podcast, Tiafoe was asked whether he’d join his fellow ATP stars in a hypothetical boycott of the US Open in a bid for changes such as increased prize money. In reply to that, the tennis star said, “The problem is, though, and you need the best players in the world to do it, the problem is, though, I just don’t trust these guys out here. I feel like they’re fake. Everyone would be like, oh, yeah, [in] the meeting before, yeah, man, screw this, man, f— this, man. I ain’t playing, like, we all need money. It’s about the tour, it’s about the next generation, this and that. Next day, you see everybody tying their shoes, over there doing bands and all that. You don’t know who’s really about it or not, because you say it, and then you —– around and pull out, and then all these dudes stayed in.“

Furthermore, he said it’d be a bit difficult to make these changes until and unless all the players get on the same page. “That’s how I feel about the PTPA and the lawsuits, it’s like, it’s cool and whatever, and you know, those guys who are in support of it, or behind it, I’m sure are trying to do good things for the game,” he said. “But until we get real unity, and everyone’s really on the same page, for me personally, it doesn’t really move the needle.”

With all these ongoing tussles amidst PTPA launching a significant claim against the tennis tours, asking for several changes to the sport, there has been a lot of discussion going on about this, but Tiafoe’s stand on this shows us why he’s one of the most outspoken individuals in the tennis world. Talking about being outspoken, recently, he shared an interesting thought on why we aren’t seeing a similar dominance in the tennis world post the ‘Big 3’ era.

“Anybody can win Slams” – Frances Tiafoe delivers a whole new verdict on the lack of dominance post the ‘Big 3’ era

The clay court swing during April-June is regarded as one of the hectic periods in the season, where matches come thick and fast. Highlighting the hectic schedule, Carlos Alcaraz recently spoke about how “Playing so many demanding matches in such a short time is always challenging.” He believes the schedule is “super demanding” and also hailed Rafael Nadal for showcasing non-stop success during this phase of the season to establish his name as the ‘King of Clay.’

Even tennis legend Andy Murray revealed that it’s because of the “longer events” that things have become a bit difficult for the players to showcase a similar dominance to what Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic did in their prime times. Even Frances Tiafoe’s compatriot, Taylor Fritz, complained that this is a “very tough part of the year to just win, win, win.” But Tiafoe thinks otherwise!

According to him, “I don’t think it’s a schedule thing. I just think it’s a level thing. I think the level is very similar, anybody can clip anybody on a given day. I think it’s exciting times. Tennis reminds me of, right now, from 2000 to 2004 or 2005. It’s a window.” Frances Tiafoe further went on to add, “Anybody can win Slams. Anybody can win tournaments like this. We’re going to have, probably every Masters (season), there’ll probably be eight, nine winners. I’m pretty sure. Maybe Alcaraz and Sinner will probably get two or three. But it’s an open game. I don’t think anyone fears anyone. No one’s that much better than anyone, except Sinner and Alcaraz. I respect those two. But I think everybody else, if they’re not playing well, they can lose.”

Different players have different opinions, but ‘Big Foe’ always has the ability to make the headlines with his bold takes. Recently, he even shared a heartfelt note for all the locals in Madrid after the power outage, which halted play on Monday. 

The post “I Don’t Trust These Guys”- Frances Tiafoe Exposes ‘Fake’ Player Solidarity Amid PTPA’s Lawsuit Battle appeared first on EssentiallySports.