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France’s Tiafoe says the racket she lost while celebrating her French Open second-round win with the crowd has been returned to her.
American 19th seed Tiafoe battled for four hours and 43 minutes in sweltering heat to beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkaz 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-4.
Immediately after securing the win, Tiafoe ran to a group of fans in the stands and hugged them in celebration while holding his racket.
Tiafoe jumped with the group before breaking free to return to his seat – but the racket was no longer in his hand.
“They held me back. I thought I was going to fall into the crowd at one point,” Tiafoe said.
“It was fun, it was a great moment – but I really need that racket.”
Tiafoe said he dropped the racquet when his arm was “getting stuck” during the celebration and only realized it was missing when he returned to the court.
“I got to shake Huby’s (Hurcaj’s) hand and the ref’s hand. And then I’m walking off the court and I’m like, ‘Wait, hold on, I’m under a racket’.”
“I never returned that racket.”
After posting a reward on Instagram for two tickets to his next match, Tiafoe said it was returned to his coach.
Tiafoe, 28, was aiming to go further than his quarter-final finish at Roland Garros last year.
He will play unseeded Jamie Faria of Portugal in the third round after a 7-5 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 win over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
