Frances Tiafoe didn’t foresee that after a gruelling five-set win over Hubert Hurkacz at the French Open, he would have to plead to his fans. The American edged it 6-7(7), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4 in four hours and 43 minutes over Hurkacz on Court 14 and ran towards a group of fans to celebrate with them. But when Tiafoe got back, he noticed that his racket was missing.

Immediately after the match, the 28-year-old addressed the situation during the post-match press conference. “They were locking me in. I thought I was going to fall into the crowd at one point. It was fun, it was a cool moment – but I actually need that racquet,” he said during his post-match interview.

Even after a few hours, the person who had taken the racket from Tiafoe’s hands during the celebration hadn’t returned it yet. Hence, Tiafoe had to resort to making a direct plea on social media, with a lucrative offer in exchange.

“Unreal atmosphere on court 14 today. 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. I’ll bless you with two tickets for my next match. Dm @brian_kub1k to collect my racket thanks for the love y’all,” Tiafoe posted on his Instagram story.

Interestingly, the move ended up working out as the racket was soon returned to Brian Kublik, a member of Tiafoe’s team. The American shared a follow up Instagram story, showing the fan returning his racket and captioned it, “Racquet secured!!! Thank you so much @racketbyka.”

With the racket now back in his possession, Tiafoe may very well be looking to continuing his form deep into the tournament. It appears that the American has a lot riding on the racket, having used it brilliantly so far in the French Open to regained his confidence on clay. Arriving at the Grand Slam with an average win-loss record of 4-3 on the surface this year, the World No. 22 has now racked up two consecutive big wins in the tournament.

Tiafoe had defeated his compatriot Eliot Spizzirri 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3  in the first round before his marathon victory over Hurkacz in the second round. He is scheduled to take on Portugal’s Jaime Faria in the third round.

But while Tiafoe was stressed out with the thought of never reuniting with his racquet again, his fellow compatriots quickly caught wind of the incident and found it hilarious. Some of them even reacted to the situation on social media.

Amanda Anisimova and Iva Jovic react to Frances Tiafoe losing his racket

World No. 6, Amanda Anisimova, reposted the clip of Tiafoe’s on-court celebration after his victory over Hurkacz and captioned it, “Ok but this video is worth losing the racket over.”

On the other hand, Iva Jovic also left a humorous comment under the Instagram post that Tiafoe made after the thrilling result. “Lost the racquet but won the match!!” she wrote.

That being said, Tiafoe’s next match at the French Open can turn out to be quite a tricky one. He has never faced Faria in a tour-level match before, so no one really knows what to expect. Though the American has a better ranking than his opponent, he can’t make the mistake of underestimating him.

Faria had entered the Grand Slam as a qualifier and had racked up an impressive win over Grigor Dimitrov in the qualifying round. After getting past the three qualifying matches, the 22-year-old had handed a straight-set defeat to Denis Shapovalov in the first round. Faria then clinched his fifth win of the tournament by defeating Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 in the second round.

It won’t be wrong to say that Faria can prove to be a tough challenge for Tiafoe in the next match, and it remains to be seen who comes out on top.