After years of frustration on the red clay of Roland Garros, Frances Tiafoe is finally rising. The 15th-seeded American punched his ticket to the fourth round of the 2025 French Open for the first time in his career, defeating fellow American and No. 23 seed Sebastian Korda in a third-round match.
But for Tiafoe, the real breakthrough didn’t happen under the lights—it came days earlier during a brutal practice session that forced him to confront his struggles head-on.
Frances Tiafoe Reaches French Open Fourth Round for the First Time
Tiafoe is making his 10th appearance in Paris since debuting in 2015, but until now, he’d never made it past the third round. Clay has never been his favorite surface, and the French Open has long been a source of disappointment.
This year has felt different.
Tiafoe battled through Roman Safiullin, Pablo Carreño Busta, and Korda to break through to the fourth round. He’ll face Germany’s Daniel Altmaier next, a player he’s beaten twice before.
But the turning point, according to Tiafoe, came before the tournament even started. During a press conference after his third-round win, he opened up about a practice session that flipped the switch.
“I snapped the racket, probably Friday,” he said with a laugh. “I played on Sunday in practice and I absolutely lost it, and I think that was critical for me. That was huge. I played horrendous in a practice set, got absolutely killed. Then I played another practice set that same day, right after breaking the racket. I was down 3-0 and found a way to win the set.”
That practice beatdown came at the hands of Ugo Carabelli. But the moment wasn’t just about losing—it was about letting go.
“I’d been losing all kinds of matches and was just kind of nonchalant about it,” Tiafoe said. “I was holding emotions in, not really letting guys know where I was at, and I just lost it.”
Tiafoe admitted that for months, he had been masking how much the losses were affecting him. That practice meltdown forced him to be honest with himself.
“I think that was kind of big for me, in the sense of just having emotion and understanding, like being, ‘Yes, this sucks.’ Actually facing it, rather than being like, ‘Oh, it’s all right.’ No, it sucks. You’ve been playing horrendous. And I think that was big for me, because I finally addressed it and understood the why.”
‘I’m Actually Having Fun Again’: Tiafoe’s Turning Point in Paris
That emotional release helped him accept the slump for what it was—and move on.
“Now I’m flying,” Tiafoe said. “I’m actually having fun again, I’m battling, I’m playing well. Sometimes adversity is good. A lot of times people look at adversity as a bad thing, but I think today, or that moment, was good.”
For Tiafoe, finally cracking the fourth round at Roland Garros isn’t just a personal milestone—it’s proof that facing the hard truths and finding joy in the grind can unlock something special.
