Frances Tiafoe and Jannik Sinner will renew their rivalry in the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open on Friday, two years after the Italian accused the American of showing “disrespect” to him.
The pair have not met since their dramatic semi-final encounter in Vienna in 2021, where Sinner was serving for the match at 6-3 5-3. Tiafoe could be heard shouting on the other side of the net when Sinner was about to toss the ball and serve it, and his strategy had the desired effect as he was able to break and keep himself in the match.
Sinner went on to lose the second set and then the match in three sets, and he was furious afterwards. “In my opinion, today Tiafoe went too far, has done too much,” he said. “It is one thing when the player tries to put on a show to put on a bit of a show, but it is quite another when you start to disrespect.”
Both men have vastly improved since their last meeting. Sinner is currently sitting at a career-high of No 4 in the world and won his maiden Masters title this year in Canada. Meanwhile, Tiafoe enjoyed a big breakthrough at Grand Slam level when he reached the 2022 US Open semi-final, beating Rafael Nadal en route. He has since made his top-10 debut.
Sinner still leads their head-to-head by two wins to one defeat, but his only match wins came four years ago. It should be a fascinating and highly competitive match when they meet again in Vienna on Friday.
