The United States Tennis Association named its Olympic team this week, and Marylander Frances Tiafoe was one of the notable omissions.
The 28th-ranked player in the world won’t be competing in Paris. And, apparently, he’s skipping the Olympics on his own accord.
In a recent interview with tennis journalist James Gray, Tiafoe said he’s prioritizing the tournaments leading to the U.S. Open, where he was a semifinalist in 2022 and a quarterfinalist last year.
“It’s insignificant to what I’m trying to do going through to the U.S. Open. I love my country, but I think I gotta think about myself,” Tiafoe said.
Tiafoe isn’t the only American men’s tennis star skipping the Olympics. Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda also won’t be competing.
Why the mass exodus?
The Olympic tennis tournament is scheduled for late July and will take place on the red clay of Stade Roland Garros. (Statistically, Tiafoe has had success on that surface.) The playing surface will force players to switch back to red clay from the grass courts of Wimbledon. It will also interrupt the hard-court season on which Tiafoe appears to be focused.
Paris will also conflict with the Citi Open in Washington — the largest tournament in proximity to Tiafoe’s Hyattsville hometown.
