Getty
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 16: Frances Tiafoe of the United States celebrates winning match point in his second round match against Kevin Anderson of South Africa during day three of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Getty
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 16: Frances Tiafoe of the United States celebrates winning match point in his second round match against Kevin Anderson of South Africa during day three of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Battling against the World No.1 Novak Djokovic is the greatest challenge in the sport. While most players would want to avoid facing Djokovic, the fifth-ranked American, Frances Tiafoe, doesn’t mind taking on the Serbian machine at the Tokyo Olympics.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Tiafoe begins his Olympic Games campaign against the 23-year-old, Soonwoo Kwon, in the first round. On the other side of the draw, Djokovic has comfortable cruised through the opening round by defeating Hugo Dellien in straight sets.
Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 10, 2021 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after winning his second round match against Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Frances Tiafoe doesn’t mind facing Novak Djokovic
In a recent interview, Tiafoe lauded Djokovic’s stellar season, who has won three consecutive Grand Slam titles, and hopes he can stop the 20-time Grand Slam champion from winning an Olympic gold medal.
“He’s trying to achieve something extremely crazy this year, and obviously I hope I can be a guy to stop him. I love seeing greatness and if I can stop it, that would be cool. We’ll see. I don’t mind the matchup against him,” said Tiafoe.
Interestingly, Tiafoe can only face Djokovic in the final since he’s present in the other half of the draw. However, the 23-year-old has a tough route to the final and would most likely face, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the second round of the Olympics.
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis Training – Ariake Tennis Park, Tokyo, Japan – July 22, 2021 Novak Djokovic of Serbia during training. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Referring to himself as the dark horse, Tiafoe believes he has a greater chance of toppling Djokovic in a best-of-3 set match and feels he can change the course of the encounter at any moment.
“I like playing Novak in two-out-of-three than three-out-of-five. I count myself as a dark horse at any particular moment. It’s a completely different format, it’s a team event, everyone is super nervous,” said Tiafoe.
So far, the duo has faced only once in their careers, a match which happened in the second round at this years’ Australian Open. Although Tiafoe took a set off Djokovic, the latter won the battle in thrilling four sets.
Owing to his extraordinary season, Djokovic is the favorite to claim the gold medal at the Olympics, a tournament he’s achieved little success in his otherwise illustrious career.
