Frances Tiafoe looks forward to the day when he can tell his grandchildren about a monumental doubles win over arguably the two greatest male tennis players ever.
At the 2022 Laver Cup tournament (held from Sept. 23-25 in London, England), Tiafoe and doubles partner Jack Sock — representing Team World — faced Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal of Team Europe.
Tiafoe and Sock defeated the two icons in the doubles match, and Team World went on to win the Laver Cup by a final score of 13-8. This would be the last match of Federer’s legendary career, as the beloved sporting legend retired afterward.
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In a recent ATP Tour video (h/t Pranjali P. of Sportkeeda), the Hyattsville, Maryland native relived the thrilling victory at the Laver Cup.
“If I was to sum it up, I would say that it was a blessing,” Tiafoe said. “That run I had in the US Open, to then back it up with the Laver Cup. To do it in the States and to do it in London, in one of the most iconic arenas – it’s stuff you’re always going to remember. It’s stuff to tell the grandkids one day.”
With sports betting now up and running in Maryland, residents can place wagers on their favorite athletes and local teams, such as the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles and NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. You can even bet on Tiafoe himself to win a singles tournament in 2023. At DraftKings, Tiafoe has strong -175 odds of winning an ATP singles title in 2023.
Mario Tudor Says Raonic Is Not Retiring
Canadian Milos Raonic has not competed in a match since the 2021 Atlanta Open, naturally leading to speculation that he may look at calling it a career.
Raonic sat out the entire 2022 season to nurse his injuries. His last match took place against Brandon Nakashima in the second round of the 2021 Atlanta Open, with the latter pulling off the big upset.
But according to Raonic’s coach Marko Tudor, the soon-to-be 32-year-old isn’t looking at retiring. Rather, Raonic is working towards a return to the court.
While speaking to Sport Klub Slovenia (h/t Dzevad Mesic of Tennis World USA), Tudor explained that Raonic wasn’t able to go at full speed because of his Achilles injury. A broken toe further sidelined Raonic’s return to tennis, but Tudor stated they’re eyeing a return in the first quarter of 2023.
“My goal for him was to come back at US swing, but now we expect to compete in February or March,” Tudor said. “Surely there were black thoughts and contemplating retirement which is reasonable when you lose two seasons in a row.
“But Miloš loves tennis a tad too much and I’m telling you that he’s very motivated to come back on tour. You got to know he has earned enough to live happily ever after. He won’t come back due to money, more so he can do what he enjoys the most.”
Raonic was once ranked as high as No. 3 in the world (in Nov. 2016). Raonic reached the men’s singles 2016 Wimbledon Championships, losing to Andy Murray. To date, that marks the only Grand Slam appearance of Raonic’s career.
The 6-foot-5 Raonic had two other fairly close calls to winning a Grand Slam. He reached the semifinals of the 2016 men’s singles Australian Open and lost to Murray, who would fall to Novak Djokovic in the finals. Raonic got to the quarterfinals of the 2014 men’s singles French Open, where he fell to Djokovic.
Rafael Nadal Hits An Impressive Top 10 Milestone
With Federer now retired, the path is a little clearer for Nadal to further strengthen his case as the greatest male tennis player of his generation.
As noted by Yasmin Syed of the Daily Express, Nadal has now spent 900 consecutive days in the top 10 world rankings. The 36-year-old has been in the top 10 since April 2005, and he hasn’t looked back.
Syed noted that Federer spent 619 consecutive weeks in the top 10. Federer finished his career with 968 total weeks in the top 10, so Federer has a bit of a way to go in catching up to his friend and on-court rival.
Just like Federer, age just hasn’t been able to slow down Nadal whatsoever. Nadal won the men’s singles Australian Open this year and the men’s singles French Open. In what was a story-filled year for Nadal, he also had the honor of teaming up with Federer in the latter’s final tennis match.
Nadal currently holds the No. 2 spot in the world rankings, trailing only 19-year-old phenom Carlos Alcaraz. The latter won this year’s men’s singles US Open and got to at least the third round in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Nadal, who turns 37 next June, has 22 Grand Slam singles championships – 14 of the French Open victories —, one ahead of Djokovic for the most ever. Federer is a close third at 20, followed by Pete Sampras at 14.
The race for the most singles Grand Slam titles between Nadal and Djokovic is far from over, and it’s going to be thrilling for tennis fans to see how it plays out over the coming years. It’ll be a top storyline to follow in the sporting world through the remainder of the 2020s decade.
