By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday August 2, 2023
Frances Tiafoe, born and bred in the D.C. area – is happy that he’s not the only player making a splash at this year’s Mubadala Citi Open. The 25-year-old always expresses his loyalty and love for his fellow players from the area, which includes Hailey Baptiste, Robin Montgomery and recent Wimbledon Girls’ champion Clervie Ngounoue.
This year at Roland-Garros, Tiafoe spent a few hours courtside as he supported Ngounoue during her junior run in Paris, and his support spills over into the press room as well.
Whenever Tiafoe is asked, he alway has kind words for his fellow D.C. area natives.
“I think tennis is great [around Washington, D.C.],” he said earlier this week. “Obviously Clervie just won Wimbledon. She's from here. I don't think many people know that. What a hell of a player she is and will become.
“I think Hailey Baptiste can be very good. I think Robin Montgomery can be really good. I think there's going to be a lot of great players from the area, very talented players.”
Tiafoe, who is into the round of 16 at the Mubadala Citi DC Open after an impressive two tiebreak win over Aslan Karatsev on Tuesday night (which featured an appearance from another legendary D.C. area athlete, Kevin Durant), is eager to see what Baptiste, who is 21 years old and currently ranked 204, can do against seventh-ranked Coco Gauff on Wednesday.
His brother, Franklin, currently coaches Baptiste.
Baptiste, who qualified for the main draw and took out former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova in three sets on Tuesday, peaked in the rankings at 119 last March. But if you ask Tiafoe, she’s ticketed for much bigger things.
Fans got a glimpse of that in 2019 in D.C. when Baptiste took out then 17th-ranked Madison Keys for her first Top 20 win. She'll bid for her second tonight against Gauff.
“Let's see if those lights are going to be too bright or if she steps up to the plate,” he said of her impending clash with Gauff. “These are the kind of matches she needs to win if she wants to take it to the next level.” Tiafoe is high on Baptiste’s talent and says that she just needs to find herself as a player to have more success.
“She's one of the best players in the world, Hailey,” he said. “Super talented. It's all between the ears with her. I'm super proud of her today. I gave her a huge hug. I gave her her props. But I want her to turn a page. Wash her hands with it and get ready for tomorrow, because she's got a tall order. Coco is an unbelievable player, and we all know what Coco does.”