Frances Tiafoe gets real about his dashing sleeveless Nike outfits & LeBron James-inspired celebration

Frances Tiafoe spoke to former NFL player-turned-podcaster Channing Crowder on Tuesday's episode of "The Pivot Podcast" about his recent inclination towards sleeveless outfits. The American tennis star shared that his admiration for basketball was the main motivator behind the shift in his on-court style.

Tiafoe began wearing sleeveless Nike t-shirts at select Grand Slam tournaments two years ago. His outfit choices have attracted much interest, prompting Channing Crowder and Ryan Clark to ask him about his new look on their podcast.

During the interaction, Crowder joked that Tiafoe's sleeveless allowed him to show off his big biceps. He further compared the American's act of straying from conventional men's attire norms to Serena Williams donning a black catsuit at the 2018 French Open, which marked her return to the Majors.

"You got on a leotard, you wanna show off all of that, huh? Is there any pushback with that? You do things differently. You bring up the Williams sisters, when Serena started wearing that catsuit stuff, everybody was crazy intimidated," Channing Crowder asked Frances Tiafoe on his podcast. "Do they go crazy you're changing it up?"

In response, Frances Tiafoe professed his love for the NBA and NFL as he emphasized that the concept of jerseys had his heart. The American revealed that he had thus urged Nike to create a custom sleeveless outfit.

"Well, it's just like my favorite, you know, I love NBA, NFL. But with the NBA, you always wearing jerseys, I'm always practicing in jerseys all the time," Tiafoe said. "So I told Nike, 'Let me rock out like that, I promise y'all it's going to look good.' and then it does, and it sells, you know?"

Tiafoe added that the fact that he wore American jersey-like outfits and mimicked LeBron James' famous 'Silencer' celebration made him more 'relatable' to his fans back home.

"Cause people can relate to that... 'This dude out here sleeveless, he's doing the Bron silencer, like, this dude really out here, he really with it,'" he said.

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Frances Tiafoe looking to match career-best result at Australian Open

Frances Tiafoe hits a volley at Brisbane (Credits: Getty)

Frances Tiafoe began his 2025 ATP Tour season on a rough note at the Brisbane International. The World No. 17 won his first match of the year against local favorite Adam Walton in straight sets before falling to the fast-rising Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the second round of the ATP 250 tournament.

Tiafoe arrived in Melbourne this week and began his practice sessions at the Rod Laver Arena. The 26-year-old will be eager to go deep at the Australian Open. His best result at the event came during his last-eight run in 2019, where he lost to eventual finalist Rafael Nadal in straight sets.