In the aftermath of Francis Tiafoe’s French Open second-round victory on Thursday, the American turned his attention to other tasks. It was to get back the racket that won the match.
In a marathon match that lasted 4 hours and 43 minutes, Tiafoe defeated Hubert Hurkas 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4. After hitting a forehand winner to secure victory, he reacted strongly, running to hug fans in the crowd with his racket in hand.
During the celebration, Tiafoe hugged a fan. But when he walked out of the crowd, his racket was gone. Tiafoe said to his team as he left the court with all his rackets in his bag. “Wait, I think I dropped my racket,” he said on the TNT Sports broadcast.
Tiafoe head coach Dr. Mark Kovacs then asked if fans would like to post anything to get input.
“I thought, ‘Yeah, that would be interesting.’ I thought, ‘We can get it (back) here.’ I don’t understand it in America,” Tiafoe said.
So Tiafoe posted on his Instagram Story that he would give away two tickets to the next game if the fan returned his racket. Soon after, a member of his team took a selfie with the person holding it, tagged Tiafoe and wrote, “Keep your racket in hand, brother.” A fan held up a shoe that appeared to be worn by Tiafoe in the game. There is no word on whether tickets will also be distributed.
The lime green racquet is one of eight that Tiafoe will accompany him to the tournament. He briefly explained why he wanted it back.
“I mean, that’s how we won the game. I guess we got lucky,” he said.
Tiafoe will face Portugal’s Jaime Faria in the third round on Saturday, and there will definitely be lime green in the mix.
