"There's no clock... This uncontrollable movements up and down" - Frances Tiafoe proclaims tennis as the 'hardest sport in the world'

Frances Tiafoe recently claimed that tennis is the hardest sport in the world and listed the reasons to support his claim.

Tiafoe is currently in Mexico to compete at the Acapulco Open 2024 as the eighth seed. He is scheduled to start his campaign against Australia's Max Purcell on Tuesday, February 27. It will be his first-ever clash with Purcell on tour.

Ahead of the match, he sat down with Tennis TV for a conversation on the sport he plays professionally.

"It's the hardest sport in the world. I still think it's the hardest sport in the world," Tiafoe said.

To back his claim, the World No. 16 stated that a tennis player needs to have exceptional reflexes as the ball used is relatively smaller to begin with.

"Well A, the ball in comparison to other sports is very small. Your hand-eye [coordination] has to got to be very good," Frances Tiafoe said.

Furthermore, Tiafoe revealed that he's had a hard time apparently explaining the duration of a tennis match to his friends and family as it's not a time-bound sport.

"Then there's no clock. You know, it's not a timed sport. When those guys come to watch me, they're like, 'How long is a tennis match?' I'm like: 'Sh*t I don’t know, you never know,'" he added.

The American concluded by suggesting that in singles action, one person and not a team has to fight it out.

"And then you know it's the uncontrollable movements, up and down, side to side. So it's tough and it's just you," Frances Tiafoe added.

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A look at Frances Tiafoe's quarterfinal run at Acapulco Open

Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe will be looking to improve on his quarterfinal run at the Acapulco Open in 2024. He kicked off his 2023 campaign with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka. Tiafoe then downed Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 7-6 (6) to set up an all-American clash with Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals.

Fritz produced a dominating show against Tiafoe and defeated him in straight sets. He broke him twice and fared better on the second serve with a 68 percent conversion against Tiafoe's 44 to earn a 6-3, 6-4 win.

With the win, Fritz extended his lead over Tiafoe to 6-1 in head-to-head. The duo have not played again since then and won't clash in Acapulco this year as Fritz has already crashed out with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss at the hands of Matteo Arnaldi in his opener.