This is the fifth and final installment of the 2023 Tiafoe series. Sit back and prepare for knowledge.

October

The Laver Cup boost that Tiafoe got didn’t last, as he crashed out of the Shanghai Masters in his first match against Lorenzo Sonego, who was his Miami conquerer. The match went the distance this time 2-6, 6-2, 3-6, but it was still in Sonego’s favor. Frances’ latest loss caused him to drop from No. 11 to No. 13. Traveling to Tokyo where he was runner-up last year, he faced Aslan Karatsev, whom he faced in Washington and Roland Garros. The former AO semifinalist denied Tiafoe a threepeat, as Tiafoe succumbed to the Russian 3-6, 6⁴-7. Frances dropped another place to No. 14. He then ventured to Austria, for the ATP 500 event (Vienna), where he was runner-up to Alexander Zverev in 2021. Tiafoe would gain the last two wins of his season here, the first against Dan Evans (who had to retire due to an injury when he was leading 4-1 in the first set), and Gaël Monfils.

In his match against Monfils, he was down triple break point in the first game of the match, which he managed to wipe away and hold serve. Tiafoe led for most of the set until Monfils broke at 5-5. La Monf then held serve to take the set in just over an hour. Tiafoe came back with a vengeance in Set 2, stomping Monfils down for most of the set. While La Monf managed to get on the board at 1-5, Tiafoe swiftly stopped any momentum the Frenchman might have started, firing two winners at 15-0 and at 40-0 to clinch the set 6-1 in 27 minutes. While still fighting, Monfils allowed himself to be broken at 2-2, giving Big Foe a 3-2 lead. Frances never looked back, eventually winning the match 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Unfortunately, Tiafoe was whipped by World No. 4 Jannik Sinner in the QFs 3-6, 4-6. This was a form of revenge for Sinner, who had lost in the Vienna SFs to Tiafoe in 2021 (the score was 3-6, 7-5, 6-2). While Big Foe managed to create three break points throughout the match, Sinner saved all three.

The last stop on Tiafoe’s 2023 campaign was the Paris Masters, but he was bounced in R1 by Alexander Bublik 3-6, 4-6. Big Foe didn’t even have a break point throughout the match, as Bublik used his serve to keep Frances under pressure. Bublik also broke Tiafoe once in each set and closed the match out with an ace in an hour and six minutes. That caused Tiafoe’s ranking to drop to No. 16.

On A High Note

Overall, this was Big Foe’s best season so far. Even with the first-round hiccups throughout the year, Frances ended his campaign within the Top 20 and broke into the Top 10 for the first time in his career, won titles in Houston and Stuttgart, and reached his third Grand Slam QF at his home slam. Another fantastic thing is that Tiafoe can look back over his season and see what he did to succeed at high levels. But, let me know what you all think. Will Tiafoe build on his confidence in 2024 and raise his game to a higher level, or will he fade into the hugely talented but often unsteady Tiafoe from before? Give me some comments and vote on the poll. Peace!