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Frances Tiafoe fell to a disappointing 6-7(11), 7-5, 2-6 loss to Arthur Fils in the third round of the 2025 Miami Open. The American had multiple chances throughout the topsy-turvy encounter to put himself in pole position for the victory. Unfortunately for him, he squandered most of them, and the ATP No. 17's erratic display prompted fans to pour in with their thoughts and opinions.
Frances Tiafoe and Arthur Fils' third-round Miami Open clash took place on Monday, March 24. It was an absorbing match, full of momentum swings. The American had a 5-3 lead in the first set, but couldn't serve it out, which allowed Fils back into the match.
Tiafoe had several set points in the first-set tiebreak as well, but once again, he failed to capitalize. While the three-time ATP Tour-level titlist did win the second set to keep himself in the match, ultimately, his 20-year-old French opponent overpowered him completely in the third. Frances Tiafoe is yet to win back-to-back matches this year.
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Several fans across Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) turned critical towards Tiafoe, suggesting that the American has the tendency to 'choke' in close matches. One also questioned the 27-year-old's tennis intelligence.
"Tiafoe might have the lowest tennis IQ in the history of the sport," suggested one fan.
"Feels like this match is just shows Tiafoe doesn't have the It factor. Feel like any of the big players would have smelt that blood in the water and buried Fils, Tiafoe just got in his own way," another fan wrote.
"Tiafoe CHOKED. He was poised to win the 1 set, then goofed. He managed to win the 2nd set. He broke early in the 3rd, then he just rolled over. Oof, Foe," commented another.
"Sadly that’s a typical Tiafoe match," another fan chimed in.
Here are some more reactions from fans to Frances Tiafoe's third-round exit from the 2025 Miami Open:
"Tiafoe is quite good a few weeks a year on American hard courts. Otherwise he’s a bum," opined one fan.
"Man Foe has been hard to watch this year but credit to Fils outlasting him," another added.
"It's a massacre of the Americans today," one weighed in, referring to losses suffered by Tiafoe, Coco Gauff, Danielle Collins and Amanda Anisimova on the same day.
"Not a great day for American Tennis lol. All of them are dropping like flies except for Fritz and Pegula," yet another fan quipped.
After the conclusion of the thrilling match against Frances Tiafoe, Arthur Fils laid bare his happiness at reaching the fourth round at successive Masters 1000 events.
"It means a lot" - Arthur Fils after ousting Frances Tiafoe from Miami Open 2025
Arthur Fils has so far enjoyed a fine experience across this year's 'Sunshine Double' events. At the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the 20-year-old reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev. After clinching the third-round clash against Frances Tiafoe in Miami, Fils couldn't hide his jubilation, especially due to making it to the fourth round in back-to-back Masters 1000 tournaments for the first time in his career.
"It means a lot, for sure. It’s the first time in the Masters that I’m reaching the fourth round twice back to back. In Indian Wells it was very good, and I was thinking this week it’s going to be tough. I was very focused to play the first round against (Gabriel) Diallo, he got injured, sorry about it. Then today, I found a way, and okay, I am in the fourth round, going to play against the first seed, let’s see how it’s going," Fils said.
Fils is set to face ATP No. 2 and No. 1 seed in Miami, Alexander Zverev, in the fourth round. Zverev leads the pair's head-to-head 3-1. The German's only loss to the young Frenchman came in the final of last year's Hamburg Open, with Fils registering a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) victory on that occasion. The match was marred by a controversial argument between Fils and Zverev.
