Frances Tiafoe admitted that he put a lot of pressure on himself last season as he looks ahead to a more positive 2024 season.
The American had an underwhelming 2023 season despite winning titles in Stuttgart and Houston as well as reaching the quarter-finals at the US Open.
Tiafoe only managed to win back-to-back matches at 10 of 22 tournaments, a record which saw him drop outside of the world’s top 15.
However the 25 year-old is looking to bounce back in 2024 and a good start has been made to his goal of doing so as he has reached the quarter-finals in Hong Kong.
A 6-3 7-6 win over Miomir Kecmanovic sees him into the last eight in China where he will face Juncheng Shang.
Speaking after his win Tiafoe opened up about the pressure he put on himself last season and how he plans on rectifying that this season, “I think a lot of 2023 I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, it was really hard for me,” Tiafoe told the ATP website.
“I was very results-driven last year. Still had a great year, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do in the big events. When I didn’t get what I wanted, I just folded it in at the end of the season, I struggled big time.
“I’m going back to what I do best, having fun with it, compete at a high level and that really showed tonight. I played with a great level all the way though.
“I’m trying to make my presence known again, just being tough day in day out. Tonight was a promising start. Those little things matter, brick by brick. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
“A lot of people were interested how I came into this year. I partied hard, had some really good rest time, now I feel good. I’m confident about what’s going to happen this year.
“I had a great offseason, trained hard, made some changes, but it’s just perspective, being process-orientated. Because whether you do monumental things or not, the world still stays the same, there’s always more to do, more to achieve. I’m very wary of that now.”
In other results, Emil Ruusuvuori earned a 12th career quarter-final with a three set win over Karen Khachanov while Andrey Rublev and Arthur Fils defeated Liam Broady and Marc-Andrea Huesler respectively.
