Frances Tiafoe edged past Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-4, on Thursday at the French Open to reach the third round. But his victory at Roland Garros came with an unexpected plot twist: a missing racket. After sealing a five-set marathon of a 4-hour and 42-minute win, the American went to celebrate with the crowd, only to realize one of his prized rackets was stolen by a fan.
What followed was a lighthearted social media post, with his peers’ reactions, ending with a successfully retrieved racket and a very lucky fan.
Fan Steals Frances Tiafoe’s Racket After Stunning Victory, Amanda Anisimova and Iva Jovic React
Following match point on Court 14, Tiafoe rushed to the sidelines to celebrate with the passionate Parisian crowd. The atmosphere was off the charts, but in the heat of the moment, a fan walked away with his racket.
“They were locking me in. I thought I was going to fall into the crowd at one point,” Tiafoe said after the match.”It was fun, it was a cool moment – but I actually need that racquet.”
Taking to his Instagram story, Tiafoe also sent out a direct plea. “Unreal atmosphere on court 14 today,” he wrote. “But I must say to the fan who took my racket at the end when I was celebrating with y’all. Can I please have it back 🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️😂😂.” To sweeten the deal, Tiafoe offered a generous reward: “I’ll bless you with two tickets for my next match. Dm @brian_kub1k to collect my racket thanks for the love y’all 🤞🏿🤞🏿🤞🏿.”
Meanwhile, his fellow American players quickly caught wind of the situation and found it hilarious. Amanda Anisimova reposted Tiafoe’s match clip, adding the caption, “Ok but this video is worth losing the racket over 🤣🤣🤣🔥🔥🔥🔥.”
Iva Jovic commented under his post, “lost the racquet but won the match!!”
Former pro and tennis analyst Prakash Amritraj chimed in on a separate post celebrating the win, commenting, “THATTTT is what it’s about fam 💥✊🏽.”
Tiafoe’s Instagram Story worked. Just a few hours later, he updated his fans showing the fan returning the racket (and holding a K-Swiss shoe for good measure). Tiafoe smiled for the selfie, captioning it, “Racquet secured!!! Thank you so much @racketbyka.” Brian Kublik, a member of Tiafoe’s coaching team, shared a selfie with the fan, captioning, “@bigfoe1998 keep your racquet in your hands brotha 😂,” to which Tiafoe replied, “We back live yall 🤞🏿🤞🏿.”
Next up, in the third round tomorrow, Tiafoe faces Portugal’s unseeded Jaime Faria.
