Yeah I guess I was a bit off-base calling him a journeyman. Probably this sub-forum rubbing off on me, as there are many here who are just brutal on anyone other than next-gen ATG's. Tiafoe is pretty solid. I do wonder, though, how much better he might be if he could simplify some of his technique... what do you think?
It's tough to say. Obviously he has a lot of natural talent and great physical attributes, but if you take away some of his ability to play lose, carefree and creative, it might actually hinder him in some ways. Making him a little more robotic just doesn't seem right. He also a very good volleyer (which he often doesn't get any credit for), so I'd like to see him at the net more.
As he plays now, there are a lot of ups and downs, but some of the "ups" are a really good level. A few years ago he was giving Djokovic a hard time in Australia, he made that US Open semi (and I think played WAY too tight and conservative in that match), and frankly could have (and maybe should have) beaten Alcaraz in Wimbledon this year.
Personally, I think he needs to play a little less. Skip some smaller events and keep his mind clear and fresh. Sometimes he just doesn't look fully engaged, and his game suffers a lot in those situations. I think he's over-played the past few years.
One of those situations where I’m just going to let your posts speak for themselves
That moment was all in good fun - Roddick was beloved for b!tch!n& in trophy presentations and post-match interviews about how much it sucked to play against the best of his time (Federer) - even flinging his racquet across the court towards Fed after the famed overhead-off-an-overhead - for him he was just keeping it real or whatever, which don’t get me wrong I often thought was funny
I also smiled at this - he’s one of the more beloved players on tour, absolutely no one celebrates his opponents great shots more than Tiafoe and he has incredibly few negative outbursts - just having some fun with how hard it is to get past Sinner this year, for everyone
I don't know. I think most of the other players get to spend enough time with/around him to know his sense of humor and personality, and that is why he is well liked. But many fans hardly ever see him play, and so this stuff just seems so silly and immature from them. I mean, giving the finger to the camera isn't the end of the world, but it's also pretty childish.
Honestly, after watching him play a lot, and seeing his segments on the Netflix show, I think the guy could use some solid guidance. He's been in the tour bubble since he was pretty young, and he really exploded in notoriety (in the US) after that US Open semi-final. But you can see that he struggles to stay grounded sometimes, and he gets a little wrapped up in rubbing shoulders with celebrities and star athletes. It's understandable, and not the end of the world, but if he wants to be consistently in the top 10 and try to grab a slam at some point, he needs to ditch a lot of that stuff and get more focused.