{"id":39362,"date":"2025-03-10T11:05:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T11:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/uk\/?p=39362"},"modified":"2025-03-10T11:05:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T11:05:07","slug":"frances-tiafoe-racket-indian-wells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/uk\/news\/frances-tiafoe-racket-indian-wells\/","title":{"rendered":"Frances Tiafoe Jokes With Umpire After ‘Forgetting’ Racket, But Loses Out to 394th Ranked in Major Upset"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Frances Tiafoe racket debacle that grabbed the headlines in his second round match at Indian Wells, became the subject of a hilarious on-court skit in his subsequent match, although the jokes were firmly on him after crashing out in a major upset.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frances Tiafoe’s Racket Joke Not So Funny Now After Spectacular Demise at Indian Wells<\/h2>\n

Indian Wells<\/a> continues to be routinely unkind to Frances Tiafoe, who crashed out in the third round for the fourth time in five years – and in spectacular fashion.<\/p>\n

The former world number 10 has suffered from a gradual downfall in the rankings since a career-high in the summer of 2023, now slipping to 17th on the ATP leaderboard.<\/p>\n

However, few were giving his third round opponent at Indian Wells a chance given 332 places separate Tiafoe and Yosuke Watanuki in the rankings.<\/p>\n

Tiafoe looked to be in high spirits as he stepped out on to court, proceeding to play a joke on umpire Mohamed Lahyani.<\/p>\n

Tiafoe had somehow forgotten to bring out his racket in the previous round against Damir Dzumhur, prompting his coaching team to scurry down from the stands to grab his belongings from the locker room.<\/p>\n

Prior to his defeat against Watanuki, the world number 17 looked around with a bewildered look on his face, which prompted Lahyani to climb down from his umpire chair to check what was wrong.<\/p>\n

After claiming he had forgotten his rackets for the second day in a row, a cheerful Tiafoe quickly dropped the act and shared a light-hearted exchange with the umpire.<\/p>\n

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California Dreamin’ \ud83c\udf34<\/p>\n

World No. 349 @W412Yosuke<\/a> knocks out Frances Tiafoe 6-4 7-6(6) to become the lowest-ranked man to reach Round 4 since No. 882 Tommy Haas in 2004. @BNPPARIBASOPEN<\/a> | #TennisParadise<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Yra7D8Xdsh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) March 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n