“That’s garbage” – Frances Tiafoe makes frustrations clear with Canadian Open schedule, expresses relief about being a ‘quick flight’ away from home

July 28, 2025

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Frances Tiafoe shared his views about the drawbacks of the Canadian Open schedule, but highlighted the good side of being closer to home as he geared up for the Masters 1000 tournament. Tiafoe faced a quarterfinal exit from the Citi Open, losing to Ben Shelton in straight sets.

Frances Tiafoe, ranked No. 10 in the world, hasn’t had much success in 2025, beginning the season with a second-round loss at the Australian Open. He faced the same fate in several tournaments after that until breaking through to the finals of the ATP Houston, but losing to Jenson Brooksby in the title match. He advanced to the French Open quarterfinals but lost to Cameron Norrie in the second round of the grasscourt major.

Following the Citi Open, Frances Tiafoe will be in contention at the Canadian Open, building up to the US Open. In a recent press conference, he shared his displeasure about the Toronto tournament since the days have been extended to 7 to 12, and the final will be on a Thursday.

"“It is what it is. I like that it’s a bit shorter than Madrid, Rome. Weird because the final is on a Thursday. That’s garbage."

He further shared that he would be able to test the waters before the final major of the season and play very close to home.

"But yeah, I mean, I guess I’m ready to get going and see how that goes. The 10-day events are tough, but I think it will be easier since I’m so close to the States. Something goes wrong, I’m a quick flight home. “It’s not like when I’m stuck in Europe and playing on red clay and people speaking different languages and s—. It’s better to kind of be in the States, so for sure, I’m really happy. Hopefully put up some good results going into the Open. That’s kind of what matters."

The former No. 10 reached the semifinals at the 2024 US Open and will vie for better results this year.

Ben Shelton heaped praise on Frances Tiafoe after beating him to advance to the Washington Open semifinals

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe at the Mubadala Citi DC Open 2025 - Day 1 - (Source: Getty)

Ben Shelton, known for his powerful left-handed serve, kept Tiafoes on his toes in the Citi Open quarterfinals. After a thrilling head-on, the former came out on top 7-6(2), 6-4, and booked a seat in the semifinals (currently underway). Despite his victory, Shelton didn't shy away from praising his countryman, Tiafoe, while anticipating more matches against the latter.

“We know tennis is a long journey. We’re going to play each other a bunch of times. Especially, we’ve already played on hard courts, we’ve already played twice at the US Open, and he beat me the most recent time. It’s tough not to cheer for a guy like that.”

Frances Tiafoe and Shelton are seeded seventh and fourth-seeded for the upcoming Canadian Open, slated from July 26 to August 7, 2025.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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