"Would be hilarious if Rafael Nadal plays Australia & beats Frances Tiafoe": Fans amused by American's 'casual dig' at post-Big 3 era amid US Open run

Frances Tiafoe's hilarious comments on drawing Rafael Nadal at Grand Slams and then 'looking at flights' have sparked some funny reactions from the fans. The American has reached the semifinals of the US Open for the second time in his career.

Tiafoe, who struggled for the majority of the 2024 season, found his rhythm at the Cincinnati Open making it to the finals.

The 20th seed kicked off his campaign at Flushing Meadows by ousting Aleksandar Kovacevic and Alexander Shevchenko in his first two rounds, following which, he defeated his compatriot and 13th seed Ben Shelton in a five-set thriller. Tiafoe then knocked out Alexei Popyrin to set up a quarterfinal clash with Grigor Dimitrov.

The American was leading 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1 when the Bulgarian retired due to injury, thus giving him a passage to the US Open semifinals for the second time in three years.

During his post-match press conference, Frances Tiafoe made a hilarious statement about tennis has a more level playing field now,

"It's not like it once was where you make a quarterfinal and play Rafa and you're looking at flights," the 26-year-old said.

Interestingly, Tiafoe and Nadal have played twice at Grand Slams with both men winning a match each. Their first meeting came in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Australian Open, won by the Spaniard, and the other in the fourth round of the 2022 US Open, won by the American.

Fans were amused by Frances Tiafoe's comments and took to X (formerly Twitter) to hilariously react to it. One fan joked how it would be hilarious if Nadal would return at the Australian Open and beat the American in the quarterfinals.

"Would be so hilarious if Rafa plays Australia and beats Tiafoe in the quarter now," the fan joked.

Another fan quipped how the 26-year-old's comments were a 'casual dig' at the other players.

"Casual dig at the rest of the players lol," the fan quipped.

Here are some other reactions from the fans.

"Yep. Atp is like another wta. Anyone can just win it," a fan said.

"Lmao, with no Big3 it is easy for other players," a fan opined.

"It's crazy to be hearing Rafa always in the tennis World Rafa comeback soon The whole world is waiting for you #USOpen," a fan chimed in.

"many adjectives can be used to describe Frances but “dishonest” isn’t one of them!" a fan mentioned.

Frances Tiafoe will play Taylor Fritz in an all-American semifinal at the 2024 US Open

Frances Tiafoe (Image Source: Getty)

Frances Tiafoe will play Taylor Fritz in the semifinals of the 2024 US Open, in what will be the eighth meeting between the two men. The winner of their match will become America's first Grand Slam finalist since Andy Roddick at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.

12th seed Fritz, much like Tiafoe, has also had a phenomenal run at Flushing Meadows ousting the likes of Matteo Berrettini, eighth seed Casper Ruud, and fourth seed Alexander Zverev to reach his maiden Grand Slam semifinal.

Taylor Fritz boasts an overwhelming 6-1 lead against Frances Tiafoe in their head-to-head, winning their last six matches.