Tiafoe is happy: "I've found joy again".
Frances Tiafoe is better, much better. Plunged into a difficult season in which he won very few matches, the world no. 20 is now resurfacing. A magnificent finalist in Cincinatti, Tiafoe is now back on track in New York.
After two matches that were generally well-controlled, the whimsical 26-year-old American took his revenge on the man who beat him here in the quarter-finals last year: Ben Shelton.
Qualified for the second week, Tiafoe savors the moment: "I'm not here, running on Mount Kilimanjaro. I'm not changing anything crazy.
It's just that I've found joy again, brother.
I just love that you start looking outward and saying, 'Man, I'm blessed to be doing what I'm doing.
You know, it's like playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
I really think that if I'd lost the first round of Wimbledon when I was down two sets to nil, I probably wouldn't even be in this position today.
So the joy came back. I wanted to train. I wanted to be myself. I was ready to play."
