WATCH: Frances Tiafoe and spectators scared by sound of potential explosion at Paris Masters before realizing harmless source

Frances Tiafoe, along with a packed crowd for his 2022 Paris Masters match against Alex de Minaur, breathed a sigh of relief after learning that an 'explosion' they heard was not serious at all. Everyone present on Court 1 at the Accor Arena on Thursday was scared for a few seconds after hearing a big crash at the back of the court.

The scare turned into laughter after they realized that it was a large tennis ball, usually used by fans to get autographs from players, that burst and caused the noise. The bizarre incident occurred as Frances Tiafoe was getting ready to serve during the second game of the second set in the Round of 16 clash.

A similar incident occurred back at the 2020 French Open, also in Paris, when a 'sonic boom' caused a temporary scare during the match between Stan Wawrinka and Dominik Koepfer.

Meanwhile, at the Paris Masters on Thursday, Tiafoe went on to close out the second set in a tie-break, winning the match 6-3, 7-6(5). The 2022 US Open semifinalist will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is on a 15-match winning streak, in the quarterfinals on Friday. Tiafoe is yet to drop a set this week, having beaten Lorenzo Sonego, Jack Draper, and De Minaur in straight sets in his three matches so far.

Courtesy of his victory against De Minaur, World No. 21 Tiafoe reached his eighth tour-level quarterfinal of the season.

"He wants more and I think he wants his first Major" - Tracy Austin on Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe in action at the Rolex Paris Masters - Day Three.

American tennis great Tracy Austin believes Frances Tiafoe wants bigger victories and is aiming for his maiden Grand Slam title, building on the confidence of his run to the US Open semifinals. Tiafoe beat 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal en route to the last four in New York.

Austin feels that Tiafoe himself has accepted that he lacked professionalism in the past and is now working on improving in that regard.

"I think that he thinks, 'before I was a little satisfied and I wasn't as professional as I could have been.' But now he's gotten the taste of getting to the semis of the US Open and those late night matches, he wants more and I think he wants his first Major," Austin said on Tennis Channel.

Austin further praised Tiafoe for not settling with the win against Nadal at the US Open and backing it up by beating Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals and stretching Carlos Alcaraz to five sets in the semifinals.

"He's got to win more matches, gets more confidence and beating Nadal at the US Open doesn't hurt following it up by beating Rublev. That would have been a match where Francis would have let down before but he puts his peddle to the metal and takes Alcaraz to five sets," Austin added.

Tiafoe also made the Tokyo Open final last month, losing to fellow American Taylor Fritz.

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