"It got taken the wrong way" - Frances Tiafoe defends himself over 'losing to clowns' comment; says "way worse" things are said in team sports

Frances Tiafoe controversially called some of his rivals on tour 'clowns'. Recently, the American defended his comments by claiming that it was taken the wrong way. Tiafoe mentioned that 'worse' things are said in team sports and he did not mean anything bad.

During a post-match interview after his first-round win against Matteo Arnaldi at Wimbledon, Tiafoe said:

"Literally this week last year I was 10 in the world and now I’m barely seeded here, losing to clowns, I mean… I hate to say it, but I’m just gonna be honest with you guys."

These comments did not go well with fans and the American faced criticism for calling his colleagues clowns. He has lost to Jack Draper, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Tommy Paul among the higher-ranked opponents this year.

However, he has also faced defeat against opponents ranked much lower than him including Rinky Hijikata (ranked 98), Denis Shapovalov (ranked 118), and Jungcheng Shang (ranked 183).

At a press conference at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, the World No. 29 defended his comments. When asked 'how delicate people can be in tennis', Tiafoe said:

"100%. I mean, I definitely like a bunch of team sports. People were saying way worse things. I've seen Luka Doncic in the Playoffs cursing guys out. I mean, saying way worse things and it's not that serious."

The American may have been referring to Dallas Maverick's Doncic allegedly shouting “You motherf*****…. you can't f*cking guard me!” at Minnesota Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert during the Western Conference finals.

Further, Tifaoe said his comments were not meant 'in a bad way'. He is 'super chill and cool with everybody on the tour.' The 26-year-old reiterated that he felt he should be doing better but his comments were not taken very seriously by his colleagues.

"Yeah, I think it got taken the wrong way. At the same time, everyone on tour was laughing with me because it was me. I think it was all good fun in the end. I think people are going to hold their hat on that for a while," he added.

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Frances Tiafoe reveals Stanislas Wawrinka and Matteo Berrettini texted him after his 'clown' comments

Frances Tiafoe at The Championships. (Image via Getty).

Frances Tiafoe was asked during the same press conference if anyone who beat him and was a possible 'clown' talked to him about it. He revealed that Stanislas Wawrinka and Matteo Berrettini texted him soon after his comments but it was all in jest.

"I mean, everyone brought it up to me. Wawrinka sent it to me at 7 a.m. the next morning when I woke up. Berrettini came up the next day, Thank God I didn't play you last year. A bunch of people were coming up to me in that sense. It was funny, man. It was funny," Frances Tiafoe revealed.

Tiafoe is currently in Washington DC and participating in the Mubadala Citi DC Open where he will begin his campaign in the Round of 32 on Tuesday, July 30, against Daniel Elahi Galan.