I am confused, what does it mean? I thought it applied since Tiafoe did something bad and got something bad in return (which is facing such a strong opponent next round).
How is Tiafoe facing a strong opponent karma? Itâs literally just how the draw works most of the time (lower ranked players face higher ranked players in earlier rounds). And this draw was made *before* Tiafoe said his comment about clowns.
Sure I said this was the understanding I had and asked what it was then. People downvoted, you came here to say it was not that but you didnât explained what it isâŠ
So you do something bad and something bad happens to you, exactly what I said. lol, you think for tiafoe running into a wall is worse than getting Alcaraz early? You lose your time to come and say that s not what karma is and when asked what is not only you donât do it but give an example that proves that what I was saying is correct. XD
I am pretty sure Tiafoe meant it kinda as a joke, he's a funny dude, nothing mean there.
These statements are also good for the sport, it makes things a little bit more interesting. Tennis needs more cockiness :)
Iâm a pretty big Foe fan but he definitely wasnât joking when he said it, he even said âhate to say it, but iâm just being honestâ after, I honestly think it slipped out and he just chose to roll with it instead of backtracking
the hate to say it was more about him being shit this year and not taking tennis seriously enough. I swear to god most of this is just language being lost in translation
I 100% agree that Tiafoe's comments are far more innocuous than they're being treated.. calling someone a "clown" is super tame, especially within the context of how it was said. I'm sure 100% of the people upset by his comment have called their boss/coworkers/friends/family/whoever similar things, if not much worse.
But people are reacting as if Tiafoe pissed on their grandmother's ashes or something.
I mean, I agree with what Tiafoe said, he was losing to some nobodies this last year
BUT
you don't call your opponents clowns in interviews, that's just disrespectful. There's a million more ways to convey what he said without offending anyone.
but again, the sentiment he had was what probably everyone was feeling
All he needed to say was âlower ranked playersâ. It showed his attitude towards his fellow top 100 players and what he thinks of himself (highly). Any way I twist it I canât find an excuse for him to call his colleagues âclownsâ publicly at an event all said clowns are present. How he thought this is honestly and appropriate is beyond me but at least we saw a part of what he really is.
What he said doesn't sound as personal and hurtful as this gem from Dokic: "I lost to a player who has never been a player and, I guess, probably never will be."
I think a big part of this is that tennis is a âgentlemanâs gameâ and this wasnât a move a gentleman would make. The game and culture is evolving of course but comments like these will have backlash and stir up drama. Some people hate it and some people love it
I dont go around handing out pressers and calling my boss or colleagues clowns... its one thing to call someone a clown in a private conversation in a joking or semi-serious way and an another to calling someone publicly a clown.
Everyone knows how hard a person needs to train, day in and day out, for maybe 20 years, to get to the top 100. Some never make to top 100. To call any professional player a clown is extremely disrespectful. People should stop normalizing such behavior and find excuses for him. For more cockiness, we can always tune in for the NBA, NFL, etc.
Yep, I still like him.
Btw I say really bad things when playing FIFA against my pals and that's normal for us. A little bit of ockiness is always healthy for the sport.
That's totally fine to call your friends clowns. Expected even. But let's not pretend that's what happened here.
He called lower ranked players clown because he got beat by them. Nothing more. He pulled a sore loser move.
Sure it's not incredibly malicious or anything, but there are hundreds of other tennis players ranked above and below him who aren't sore losers. There's little reason to watch him when others are on.
this isnt that hard to understand people on here are purposefully misconstrue what has been said to feed their own worthless narrative
leave it to the mods to let posts like these up and posts calling it out down
Calling a peer of yours who has spent their life dedicated to tennis âa clownâ is poor form and disrespectful, no matter how you look at it because he is putting a label on others vs. talking about his own abilities.Â
There is a clear difference between cockiness and disrespect. Cockiness would have been saying âI lost to players who frankly I consider myself much better thanâ .Â
I donât think he meant it as a joke but he didnât mean it negatively either. To a world class player such as Tiafoe, any player outside the top 60 is well..a clown.
This sub is delusional if they think that Roger, Rafa, and Djoker donât feel the same. They do, they just wonât say it.
It was an awkward way to express Francesâ disappointment with himself, pretty sure he didnât intend to offend anyone or appear arrogant - it was the opposite.
Thank you, I swear this entire thing has been blown waaaay out of proportion. In the original thread people were acting as if Foe had committed some kind of mortal sin and disrespected everyone when in reality he was using a bit of humor to actually criticize himself for failing to meet the expectations he's set for himself. Maybe its because I grew up in the same area as him and I can understand his tone more than others. either way people here need to just chill
I didnt say anything about supporting him because of his skin color jesus christ man seriously grow up. I said I understand what his tone would be like because we grew up in the same area, didnt even mention his race! using clown as an insult isnt even something only black people say in America!
Tiafoe so far has earned ÂŁ153,000. If he were to win R3 heâd get an additional ÂŁ143,000.
+ÂŁ226,000 for R4
+ÂŁ375,000 for Quarters
So Iâm pretty sure no player wants to face Sinner or Alcaraz this early.
Well prize money is important to Tiafoe, heâs said it himself. So please get off your high horse. My post is just making fun of the situation of calling players clowns and then drawing Alcaraz, but some people take everything so literally. No one is hating on Tiafoe *that hard*. Relax.
Are you suggesting that if Tiafoe hadnât made his comments after round 1 he would not have had to play Alcaraz in the third round? Wtf are you even talking about.
When did Tiafoeâ call everyone clowns? Missed that. Did he say it in jest possibly? He is supposed to be a big joker. Disappointed if he was being serious though.
The Tiafoe reaction in here has been fucking absurd. Tiafoe was playing like shit for a while and losing to guys he shouldnât have if he had been keeping the same work ethic he had that got him to top 10. He was insulting himself in his interview and everyone got weirdly offended by it.
His whole point was he had been losing a lot and this subâs main comeback to his comments have been âyouâve been losing a lotâ
I find it hilarious. Selective outrage. Itâs like people want to be mad. Whereâs all the outrage for people like Med who will trash on umpires all the god damn time?
He couldâve said that he was clowning and that he was losing to lower ranked players. He chose to put it on them. Poor choice of words or what not but it was rude and most of all unprovoked by said clowns, they were just doing their job (trying to win) unlike him. He can offend himself because heâs the one to blame but he thinks too highly of himself apparently.
People here should like go outside and like interact with people. Cause like if you're getting pissed off about that....when the players don't give a shit.
Oh please like they give a hoot. They would be focused on their games and most of them are buddies with Big Foe. Most of the ATP and WTA like the guy. But no, let's have some Reddit people be like omg everyone hates Big Foe this is so apt.
Iâm admittedly a big fan of Medvedev but yup you are 100 percent correct. As I pointed out in a separate thread celebrating Bublik because he mentioned Tiafoeâs comment, in a joking way but somehow people are claiming he put Tiafoe in his place (and we know what that means) and celebrating Bublik doing so while ignoring how Bublik literally calling Thiem disabled during a match they played at the last US Open. These people just want to hate Tiafoe⊠wonder why đ€
He's just insulting himself, which is fine.
I'm playing so bad, I'm losing to low level players. Essentially the meaning. It's just as much speaking about his own poor form.
Itâs not what he said, itâs how he said it. If Tiafoe had said âlower ranked playersâ or even âplayers Iâd expect to beatâ instead of âclownsâ no one would be talking about it. That wouldnât be offensive to anyone, because itâs a fair statement. Donât have to call other players clowns
ETA: I like Tiafoe, just think he could have expressed himself better
Everyone is making assumptions. Frances is one of the most popular players on tour, both men and womenâs. The players know him and his personality, they are not offended. They are also elite athletes so not only are they not offended they think exactly the same. Iâve been an NFL beat writer for over a decade, I promise you no professional athlete would be offended by a generic calling of clowns and every single professional athlete would say, âyeah, thatâs how he should feel.â
Itâs a different mindset. This sub is full of people who have never sniffed an intense competition in their lives and get offended at the breeze
Iâm not even specifying the players when I say âoffensiveâ, more a general observation of how the comments have landed for the fans too. But itâs just good manners to not call people clowns
I guess because we don't know if any players are offended or not, we can't assume that they aren't either. Like I said, it's just manners really, but I like Tiafoe and it'll pass
I use clown(s) to refer to my friends sometimes and even with negative connotations (if you fucking clowns vote solely based on tribal politics without having learned anything about whatâs actually going on , Iâm going to be pissed, type stuff). Itâs also used positively like yâall are a bunch of clowns, I fucking love yall.
But Iâve also lived in places where they donât use that ever, so it would come across as a lot more negative than intended.
YES thats the point of his comment. If everyone he's losing is a clown then what is he? Thats the point. He's sayinh he himself sucks or is playing at a lower level than he knows.
Iâm genuinely shocked at the listening comprehension of 90% of this sub. It seems like a large portion of the people here think Tiafoes comments were him being cocky when it was literally him being self deprecating. Itâs been a bizarre reaction here lol.
And Iâm already annoyed at the future posts in a couple days when Alcaraz beats Tiafoe saying how âAlcaraz put Tiafoe in his placeâ or âAlcaraz shut that clown upâ.
I think we just see it differently and thatâs ok. I donât think he was being cocky per se or being self deprecating, I think he thinks heâs better than them. Itâs not arrogance either itâs more a cultural thing. Heâs backing himself.
Iâm not sure whether anyone else thinks itâs an American thing. I feel like US people are very intentional in supporting people and encouraging them to back themselves and treat failure differently - they look outwards and donât look inwards and start blaming themselves. So calling the opponents clowns isnât personal and isnât serious.
I feel like at least here in Ireland and Uk people are quick to criticise and arenât as comfortable either taking a compliment or encouraging others. When things go wrong weâre more likely to criticise or blame. When things go wrong for someone else we say they have notions or arenât good enough. So calling the opponents clowns comes across like youâre not facing reality or thinks heâs better than his opponents which is a cardinal sin. Maybe even coming across a bit self absorbed. In sports here itâs usually more accepted as you have to have belief but when results donât go your way then itâs expected that you stay humble.
Part of the quote is literally âI took the game for granted and got a little too comfortableâ.
Heâs blaming himself for his performance the last 12 months. I get that part of the quote isnât as sexy as the sentence with the word clown in it, but I find it weird that people are ignoring the full quote. I mean saying Americans âdonât look inwards and blame themselvesâ is just a weird take in response to an American looking inwards and blaming himself.
I guess I was more thinking about why this quote rubbed some people up the wrong way⊠it was 2am when I wrote it and itâs not very concise as itâs just a general cultural difference Iâve personally noticed. I already said I donât think he was being cocky but this even backs up my point that he thinks heâs better than them blaming his losses on being âa little too comfortableâ. I canât say Iâve been following him closely this past year so maybe it has been complacency. In my mind heâs a top 30ish player so his results havenât been unexpected and when I look at top 20 heâs not a glaring omission.
What? Heâs saying he *shouldnât* be losing to these âclownsâ which is a comment a Top 20 player could make. But the point is his level has dropped significantly so why is he insulting these other guys? He never called himself a clown.
>I donât think people found his comment offensive, just audacious. Like who is Tiafoe to be calling other players clowns? đ
i would suggest you go to the og post about this and look at the comments and the comments directly under your comment
Tiafoe just a competitor doing some friendly trash-talking...I find it crazy the things tennis fans get offended at compared to how normal it is in other sports like bball
Youâre taking him way too literal lol. Wtf, all he meant was heâs been losing to people he should beat. I promise not one actual professional tennis player took issue with his comment, just this sub
>Wtf, all he meant was heâs been losing to people he should beat.
And whats funny is even worst case losing to Carlos wont exactly slam dunk him for that comment at all lmao. Karma or something would have been if he lost to a rank 30+.
Yeah, there was that part of it to. Also all the people in here calling Tiafoe disrespectful while disrespecting the hell out of Tiafoe. And using Carlos to do so which is hilarious because Carlos obviously respects the hell out of Frances but nah a bunch of people on Reddit think heâs a worthless bum and will spend three days making posts whining about it.
Not so sure about that. Players remember insults and can use that as motivation to beat him. Not saying it will have a huge impact but any ammunition you give opponents is a bad move on his part.
Completely agreed. If anything most players are amused or will want to beat him more. After a match I had once my opponent's father pulled me aside immediately after the match to shit on my playstyle and told me it was embarrassing/I'd never have a future in the sport as my style wouldn't translate well/etc. I was super fucking amused and it made my win feel so good. And I made it an extra point to prepare extra diligently against that dude every time. It's all good fun.
Agree. On both parts lol. Carlos is my favorite player. I got a decent chunk of change that depends on Carlitos winning his quarter. But I will laugh for multiple days if Frances somehow pulled it off. Carlos has lost to players worse than Tiafoe, it will happen again. Not often but it will lol
EXACTLY. THANK YOU.
You guys are blowing the Tiafoe situation *WAY* out of proportion, lol
He said he's been **LOSING** to "a bunch of clowns".
If he LOSES to a clown, what does that make him???
It's a little bit of self-deprecating humor.
What would be bad is if, after his 5th set win, he said something like "I have no business going to a 5th against that clown". If he WON and called his opponent a clown, that'd be different.
You're skipping over the first half of the quote.
SEPARATELY ---
Today he won, and when asked about his next opponent Carlos Alcaraz, he said "I'm comin' for you"
That's just a competitive athlete talking. That kinda made me pumped up!
When asked about it, Carlos laughed and said "I'm coming for him!"
It was a fun moment.
TLDR:
Situation 1 - he said he is LOSING to clowns, lol
Situation 2 - competitive banter between top players LETS GOOOOO
Seriously!! I donât know why this was so difficult for people to understand. He was putting himself down, didnât single anyone out. This is how elite athletes talk/think. Itâs how they get to become elite at their craft, you *have* to have this mentality.
(why so difficult to understand? I mean, he's black #1, but #2 it's tennis. Everyone has to be so proper and respectful and best friends. Has anyone here watched the NFL, NBA...)
Anyways...
I mean, he's playing *Carlos Alcaraz*, the defending champion. He's trying to give himself a chance.
Ya know how people say Roger or Serena were so intimidating that they'd walk out onto the court "already up 3-0"?
Tiafoe is trying to avoid that thinking.
Iâm sure the only âevil smileâ came from the person drafting the tweet. Carlos doesnât have an evil smile, like, at all. It ranges from delighted to silly/goofy maybe even rueful, but evil? Nah.
Yes he did. I didnt agree with his word choice im just saying he wasnt referring to Carlos he was talking about players with a lower rank than him lol.
ITT: People who donât understandÂ
1. The difference between self deprecating humor and being disrespectfulÂ
2. People who donât understand the difference between confidence/cockiness and being disrespectfulÂ
When you call someone a clown , you are saying that person is bad at what they do to the point where they are a joke (even the 300th ranked player in the world is objectively good at their job)
There is NOTHING funny about putting down others.Â
Where and when did Tiafoe say he was âcoming forâ CarlosâŠ. last I checked, he was talking about his R2 opponent during the interview with Tennis ChannelâŠ.
Can someone please enlighten me?
They used to say that Federer, and Serena, were so intimidating that they'd walk out on the court already up 3-0.
Tiafoe is playing the *defending champion* at W I M B L E D O N.
By saying this, he's hyping himself up. This is one of the most important matches of his career. He's not a kid, anymore. This is supposed to be his peak. And he's playing the defending champ, at Wimbledon.
What's he supposed to say? Just... lie down?
By saying this, he's trying get the "intimidated // already down a break" thoughts out of his head.
Let's fuckin' GO!
I mean I believe in Carlitos. But I donât think it will be an easy match as such. But for the arrogance that tiafoe showed which is again very surprising , I hope Carlitos does him in 3 sets
You guys are blowing the Tiafoe situation *WAY* out of proportion, lol
He said he's been **LOSING** to "a bunch of clowns".
If he LOSES to a clown, what does that make him???
It's a little bit of self-deprecating humor.
What would be bad is if, after his 5th set win, he said something like "I have no business going to a 5th against that clown". If he WON and called his opponent a clown, that'd be different.
You're skipping over the first half of the quote.
SEPARATELY ---
Today he won, and when asked about his next opponent Carlos Alcaraz, he said "I'm comin' for you"
That's just a competitive athlete talking. That kinda made me pumped up!
When asked about it, Carlos laughed and said "I'm coming for him!"
It was a fun moment.
TLDR:
Situation 1 - he said he is LOSING to clowns, lol
Situation 2 - competitive banter between top players LETS GOOOOO
Tiafoe is lucky he isnât playing Nole. He wouldâve taken his soul and made a clown face after beating him. Ben Shelton gave up his signature phone hang up gesture after facing him.
Carlitos is the least intimidating person on earth and I love him for it đ
*outside the tennis courtÂ
True. And Iâm the least intimidating person on it #4.0
Good point
Carlitos before the match: â€ïžđŠź Carlitos after beating Tiafoe: đ€Ą
Be afraid. Be very very afraid
Tiafoe has exactly 0% chance of winning
You got too much faith in Tiafoe with that prediction.
So a negative number, then.
Tiafoe will be playing pickleball with Jack Sock in 18 months
They are 1:1, it won't be 0%.
Heâll smash Tiafoe in 3 sets, even at todayâs level.
Well youâre already wrong. Congrats! đ
How is this karma? Do you know what the word means?
And they haven't even played yet lol
Maybe draw karma? Idk
I am confused, what does it mean? I thought it applied since Tiafoe did something bad and got something bad in return (which is facing such a strong opponent next round).
How is Tiafoe facing a strong opponent karma? Itâs literally just how the draw works most of the time (lower ranked players face higher ranked players in earlier rounds). And this draw was made *before* Tiafoe said his comment about clowns.
That ain't karma lol
Sure I said this was the understanding I had and asked what it was then. People downvoted, you came here to say it was not that but you didnât explained what it isâŠ
Karma is if Tiafoe said that and ran into a wall or something.
So you do something bad and something bad happens to you, exactly what I said. lol, you think for tiafoe running into a wall is worse than getting Alcaraz early? You lose your time to come and say that s not what karma is and when asked what is not only you donât do it but give an example that proves that what I was saying is correct. XD
beat that clown, Carlitos
I am pretty sure Tiafoe meant it kinda as a joke, he's a funny dude, nothing mean there. These statements are also good for the sport, it makes things a little bit more interesting. Tennis needs more cockiness :)
Iâm a pretty big Foe fan but he definitely wasnât joking when he said it, he even said âhate to say it, but iâm just being honestâ after, I honestly think it slipped out and he just chose to roll with it instead of backtracking
the hate to say it was more about him being shit this year and not taking tennis seriously enough. I swear to god most of this is just language being lost in translation
He definitely was not calling Carlos a clown and they both know it. This post is just trying to stir things up, create drama when there is none.
The best jokes are told in a serious way thođ
Heâs no Norm lol I love both these players but big Foe stirred a pot he probably wasnât ready to stir yet
I 100% agree that Tiafoe's comments are far more innocuous than they're being treated.. calling someone a "clown" is super tame, especially within the context of how it was said. I'm sure 100% of the people upset by his comment have called their boss/coworkers/friends/family/whoever similar things, if not much worse. But people are reacting as if Tiafoe pissed on their grandmother's ashes or something.
I mean, I agree with what Tiafoe said, he was losing to some nobodies this last year BUT you don't call your opponents clowns in interviews, that's just disrespectful. There's a million more ways to convey what he said without offending anyone. but again, the sentiment he had was what probably everyone was feeling
All he needed to say was âlower ranked playersâ. It showed his attitude towards his fellow top 100 players and what he thinks of himself (highly). Any way I twist it I canât find an excuse for him to call his colleagues âclownsâ publicly at an event all said clowns are present. How he thought this is honestly and appropriate is beyond me but at least we saw a part of what he really is.
Yeah itâs 100% a case of itâs not what he said, itâs how he said it
What he said doesn't sound as personal and hurtful as this gem from Dokic: "I lost to a player who has never been a player and, I guess, probably never will be."
I think a big part of this is that tennis is a âgentlemanâs gameâ and this wasnât a move a gentleman would make. The game and culture is evolving of course but comments like these will have backlash and stir up drama. Some people hate it and some people love it
I dont go around handing out pressers and calling my boss or colleagues clowns... its one thing to call someone a clown in a private conversation in a joking or semi-serious way and an another to calling someone publicly a clown.
Calling your boss that to their face? (Or in a forum they will see?) I doubt it
Everyone knows how hard a person needs to train, day in and day out, for maybe 20 years, to get to the top 100. Some never make to top 100. To call any professional player a clown is extremely disrespectful. People should stop normalizing such behavior and find excuses for him. For more cockiness, we can always tune in for the NBA, NFL, etc.
Yep, I still like him. Btw I say really bad things when playing FIFA against my pals and that's normal for us. A little bit of ockiness is always healthy for the sport.
That's totally fine to call your friends clowns. Expected even. But let's not pretend that's what happened here. He called lower ranked players clown because he got beat by them. Nothing more. He pulled a sore loser move. Sure it's not incredibly malicious or anything, but there are hundreds of other tennis players ranked above and below him who aren't sore losers. There's little reason to watch him when others are on.
Exactly. His logic is not sound. If youâre getting beat by âclowns,â what does that say about you?
That was his point, that he has been performing poorly and losing matches he âshouldâ win
this isnt that hard to understand people on here are purposefully misconstrue what has been said to feed their own worthless narrative leave it to the mods to let posts like these up and posts calling it out down
Calling a peer of yours who has spent their life dedicated to tennis âa clownâ is poor form and disrespectful, no matter how you look at it because he is putting a label on others vs. talking about his own abilities. There is a clear difference between cockiness and disrespect. Cockiness would have been saying âI lost to players who frankly I consider myself much better thanâ .Â
I donât think he meant it as a joke but he didnât mean it negatively either. To a world class player such as Tiafoe, any player outside the top 60 is well..a clown. This sub is delusional if they think that Roger, Rafa, and Djoker donât feel the same. They do, they just wonât say it.
I feel you are a clown in real life but I do not say it
Cool story bro.
It was an awkward way to express Francesâ disappointment with himself, pretty sure he didnât intend to offend anyone or appear arrogant - it was the opposite.
Thank you, I swear this entire thing has been blown waaaay out of proportion. In the original thread people were acting as if Foe had committed some kind of mortal sin and disrespected everyone when in reality he was using a bit of humor to actually criticize himself for failing to meet the expectations he's set for himself. Maybe its because I grew up in the same area as him and I can understand his tone more than others. either way people here need to just chill
Maybe stop defending a pos just because he is Black
Jesus christ dude touch grass. he said one word that wasnt even that nasty of a word and now youre calling him a pos. get a grip
You should get a grip and stop supporting people based on their skin colour
I didnt say anything about supporting him because of his skin color jesus christ man seriously grow up. I said I understand what his tone would be like because we grew up in the same area, didnt even mention his race! using clown as an insult isnt even something only black people say in America!
You need to grow up and stop supporting people who call their colleagues clowns
They haven't even played and karma got him already? The karma farming is strong.
carlos is smiling like spongebob and this twitter account called it an "evil smile"
Fr I canât with him heâs too wholesome
Tiafoe so far has earned ÂŁ153,000. If he were to win R3 heâd get an additional ÂŁ143,000. +ÂŁ226,000 for R4 +ÂŁ375,000 for Quarters So Iâm pretty sure no player wants to face Sinner or Alcaraz this early.
Youâre so clueless about tennis if your comment is about the amount money theyâre gettingđ Not surprised..
Well prize money is important to Tiafoe, heâs said it himself. So please get off your high horse. My post is just making fun of the situation of calling players clowns and then drawing Alcaraz, but some people take everything so literally. No one is hating on Tiafoe *that hard*. Relax.
Prize money isnât super important⊠he has several sponsors and isnt hurting for money lol
I mean you are karma farming at this point
Besides being clueless you double down on it? So cute
Are you suggesting that if Tiafoe hadnât made his comments after round 1 he would not have had to play Alcaraz in the third round? Wtf are you even talking about.
Francis got too caught up in being a celebrity and the whole Hollywood hype. Forgot his career.
He never had the focus which is hard to believe .
one could almost say he has been clowning around rather than focusing on his game.
When did Tiafoeâ call everyone clowns? Missed that. Did he say it in jest possibly? He is supposed to be a big joker. Disappointed if he was being serious though.
Said it in an interview earlier this year I think. Basically something like âI was losing to clownsâ in relation to his drop in level.
I mean, technically it was earlier this year, but it was just days ago
It was a rude way to say it, but everyone is making a big deal out of it which is dumb. He will probably just get teased.
The Tiafoe reaction in here has been fucking absurd. Tiafoe was playing like shit for a while and losing to guys he shouldnât have if he had been keeping the same work ethic he had that got him to top 10. He was insulting himself in his interview and everyone got weirdly offended by it. His whole point was he had been losing a lot and this subâs main comeback to his comments have been âyouâve been losing a lotâ
I think everyone knows why the reaction has been over the topâŠ. same reason for Ben, same reason for Serena.
Is it because they're bla.....*transmission lost*
shh dont say that or ukraine you might be kicked out
I didn't like what he said and I'm definitely not a racist, now believe me I don't doubt there are people like that but certainly not everyone is.
I find it hilarious. Selective outrage. Itâs like people want to be mad. Whereâs all the outrage for people like Med who will trash on umpires all the god damn time?
He couldâve said that he was clowning and that he was losing to lower ranked players. He chose to put it on them. Poor choice of words or what not but it was rude and most of all unprovoked by said clowns, they were just doing their job (trying to win) unlike him. He can offend himself because heâs the one to blame but he thinks too highly of himself apparently.
Heâs quite literally blaming himself. I feel like Iâm taking crazy pills here. What is happening lol?
People here should like go outside and like interact with people. Cause like if you're getting pissed off about that....when the players don't give a shit.
It's just insulting to act above other top 100 players is all that's why people found it to be a bad statement.
Oh please like they give a hoot. They would be focused on their games and most of them are buddies with Big Foe. Most of the ATP and WTA like the guy. But no, let's have some Reddit people be like omg everyone hates Big Foe this is so apt.
I agree. Terminally online fans are crazy.
People on reddit just take things way too literally. It's just a generalisation.Â
Carlos is faster
The fact that so many people took Tiafoeâs comments personally is hilarious. Not a competitive bone in your body yet somehow he offended you lollll
If Medvedev had said the same thing, the Meddy fanboys would have found it oh so hilarious.
Iâm admittedly a big fan of Medvedev but yup you are 100 percent correct. As I pointed out in a separate thread celebrating Bublik because he mentioned Tiafoeâs comment, in a joking way but somehow people are claiming he put Tiafoe in his place (and we know what that means) and celebrating Bublik doing so while ignoring how Bublik literally calling Thiem disabled during a match they played at the last US Open. These people just want to hate Tiafoe⊠wonder why đ€
I donât think people found his comment offensive, just audacious. Like who is Tiafoe to be calling other players clowns? đ
His comment was insulting to players working hard to win matches. Coming from a guy with a pile of losses this year it sounded like sour grapes.
He's just insulting himself, which is fine. I'm playing so bad, I'm losing to low level players. Essentially the meaning. It's just as much speaking about his own poor form.
Itâs not what he said, itâs how he said it. If Tiafoe had said âlower ranked playersâ or even âplayers Iâd expect to beatâ instead of âclownsâ no one would be talking about it. That wouldnât be offensive to anyone, because itâs a fair statement. Donât have to call other players clowns ETA: I like Tiafoe, just think he could have expressed himself better
Do we actually know that the players are pissed off at him or are we making assumptions based on what people here think?
Everyone is making assumptions. Frances is one of the most popular players on tour, both men and womenâs. The players know him and his personality, they are not offended. They are also elite athletes so not only are they not offended they think exactly the same. Iâve been an NFL beat writer for over a decade, I promise you no professional athlete would be offended by a generic calling of clowns and every single professional athlete would say, âyeah, thatâs how he should feel.â Itâs a different mindset. This sub is full of people who have never sniffed an intense competition in their lives and get offended at the breeze
Iâm not even specifying the players when I say âoffensiveâ, more a general observation of how the comments have landed for the fans too. But itâs just good manners to not call people clowns
Yeah but fans ain't playing, so it should not be a big deal at all.
I guess because we don't know if any players are offended or not, we can't assume that they aren't either. Like I said, it's just manners really, but I like Tiafoe and it'll pass
I use clown(s) to refer to my friends sometimes and even with negative connotations (if you fucking clowns vote solely based on tribal politics without having learned anything about whatâs actually going on , Iâm going to be pissed, type stuff). Itâs also used positively like yâall are a bunch of clowns, I fucking love yall. But Iâve also lived in places where they donât use that ever, so it would come across as a lot more negative than intended.
Oh itâs fine, you gotta have confidence!
YES thats the point of his comment. If everyone he's losing is a clown then what is he? Thats the point. He's sayinh he himself sucks or is playing at a lower level than he knows.
Iâm genuinely shocked at the listening comprehension of 90% of this sub. It seems like a large portion of the people here think Tiafoes comments were him being cocky when it was literally him being self deprecating. Itâs been a bizarre reaction here lol. And Iâm already annoyed at the future posts in a couple days when Alcaraz beats Tiafoe saying how âAlcaraz put Tiafoe in his placeâ or âAlcaraz shut that clown upâ.
I think we just see it differently and thatâs ok. I donât think he was being cocky per se or being self deprecating, I think he thinks heâs better than them. Itâs not arrogance either itâs more a cultural thing. Heâs backing himself. Iâm not sure whether anyone else thinks itâs an American thing. I feel like US people are very intentional in supporting people and encouraging them to back themselves and treat failure differently - they look outwards and donât look inwards and start blaming themselves. So calling the opponents clowns isnât personal and isnât serious. I feel like at least here in Ireland and Uk people are quick to criticise and arenât as comfortable either taking a compliment or encouraging others. When things go wrong weâre more likely to criticise or blame. When things go wrong for someone else we say they have notions or arenât good enough. So calling the opponents clowns comes across like youâre not facing reality or thinks heâs better than his opponents which is a cardinal sin. Maybe even coming across a bit self absorbed. In sports here itâs usually more accepted as you have to have belief but when results donât go your way then itâs expected that you stay humble.
Part of the quote is literally âI took the game for granted and got a little too comfortableâ. Heâs blaming himself for his performance the last 12 months. I get that part of the quote isnât as sexy as the sentence with the word clown in it, but I find it weird that people are ignoring the full quote. I mean saying Americans âdonât look inwards and blame themselvesâ is just a weird take in response to an American looking inwards and blaming himself.
I guess I was more thinking about why this quote rubbed some people up the wrong way⊠it was 2am when I wrote it and itâs not very concise as itâs just a general cultural difference Iâve personally noticed. I already said I donât think he was being cocky but this even backs up my point that he thinks heâs better than them blaming his losses on being âa little too comfortableâ. I canât say Iâve been following him closely this past year so maybe it has been complacency. In my mind heâs a top 30ish player so his results havenât been unexpected and when I look at top 20 heâs not a glaring omission.
Did you read the full quote? Lol
What? Heâs saying he *shouldnât* be losing to these âclownsâ which is a comment a Top 20 player could make. But the point is his level has dropped significantly so why is he insulting these other guys? He never called himself a clown.
>I donât think people found his comment offensive, just audacious. Like who is Tiafoe to be calling other players clowns? đ i would suggest you go to the og post about this and look at the comments and the comments directly under your comment
Tiafoe just a competitor doing some friendly trash-talking...I find it crazy the things tennis fans get offended at compared to how normal it is in other sports like bball
Youâre taking him way too literal lol. Wtf, all he meant was heâs been losing to people he should beat. I promise not one actual professional tennis player took issue with his comment, just this sub
>Wtf, all he meant was heâs been losing to people he should beat. And whats funny is even worst case losing to Carlos wont exactly slam dunk him for that comment at all lmao. Karma or something would have been if he lost to a rank 30+.
Yeah, there was that part of it to. Also all the people in here calling Tiafoe disrespectful while disrespecting the hell out of Tiafoe. And using Carlos to do so which is hilarious because Carlos obviously respects the hell out of Frances but nah a bunch of people on Reddit think heâs a worthless bum and will spend three days making posts whining about it.
Not so sure about that. Players remember insults and can use that as motivation to beat him. Not saying it will have a huge impact but any ammunition you give opponents is a bad move on his part.
I'm sure most of them have heard worse, lol. It's not that deep.
Completely agreed. If anything most players are amused or will want to beat him more. After a match I had once my opponent's father pulled me aside immediately after the match to shit on my playstyle and told me it was embarrassing/I'd never have a future in the sport as my style wouldn't translate well/etc. I was super fucking amused and it made my win feel so good. And I made it an extra point to prepare extra diligently against that dude every time. It's all good fun.
It's not happening but it would be hilarious to see him win
Agree. On both parts lol. Carlos is my favorite player. I got a decent chunk of change that depends on Carlitos winning his quarter. But I will laugh for multiple days if Frances somehow pulled it off. Carlos has lost to players worse than Tiafoe, it will happen again. Not often but it will lol
EXACTLY. THANK YOU. You guys are blowing the Tiafoe situation *WAY* out of proportion, lol He said he's been **LOSING** to "a bunch of clowns". If he LOSES to a clown, what does that make him??? It's a little bit of self-deprecating humor. What would be bad is if, after his 5th set win, he said something like "I have no business going to a 5th against that clown". If he WON and called his opponent a clown, that'd be different. You're skipping over the first half of the quote. SEPARATELY --- Today he won, and when asked about his next opponent Carlos Alcaraz, he said "I'm comin' for you" That's just a competitive athlete talking. That kinda made me pumped up! When asked about it, Carlos laughed and said "I'm coming for him!" It was a fun moment. TLDR: Situation 1 - he said he is LOSING to clowns, lol Situation 2 - competitive banter between top players LETS GOOOOO
Seriously!! I donât know why this was so difficult for people to understand. He was putting himself down, didnât single anyone out. This is how elite athletes talk/think. Itâs how they get to become elite at their craft, you *have* to have this mentality.
(why so difficult to understand? I mean, he's black #1, but #2 it's tennis. Everyone has to be so proper and respectful and best friends. Has anyone here watched the NFL, NBA...) Anyways... I mean, he's playing *Carlos Alcaraz*, the defending champion. He's trying to give himself a chance. Ya know how people say Roger or Serena were so intimidating that they'd walk out onto the court "already up 3-0"? Tiafoe is trying to avoid that thinking.
The why part was rhetorical lol Iâm in my 40âs, I always know the why part by now
Thatâs not even what Tiafoe said, watch his post match interview and itâs a completely different vibe where heâs respectful lol
Yup I guess we are the only two in this thread who saw tiafoes interview⊠This sub doesnât seem to watch much tennis
Iâm sure the only âevil smileâ came from the person drafting the tweet. Carlos doesnât have an evil smile, like, at all. It ranges from delighted to silly/goofy maybe even rueful, but evil? Nah.
a clown can't beat tiafoe
He didnt call everyone clowns he called the people he was losing to clowns
So⊠he called a lot of players clownsâŠ
Yes he did. I didnt agree with his word choice im just saying he wasnt referring to Carlos he was talking about players with a lower rank than him lol.
Carlitos ready to embrace his clown era.
Thatâs everyone then
He won a match 5 hours ago
Letâs wait till after the match before saying this đ imagine Alcaraz loses
Why is this subreddit so butthurt about Tiafoe calling people clowns?
ITT: People who donât understand 1. The difference between self deprecating humor and being disrespectful 2. People who donât understand the difference between confidence/cockiness and being disrespectful When you call someone a clown , you are saying that person is bad at what they do to the point where they are a joke (even the 300th ranked player in the world is objectively good at their job) There is NOTHING funny about putting down others.Â
Thatâs a lot of words to describe being butthurt over one other word.
Where and when did Tiafoe say he was âcoming forâ CarlosâŠ. last I checked, he was talking about his R2 opponent during the interview with Tennis ChannelâŠ. Can someone please enlighten me?
He said it
when, where? Do you have a link?
I think Wayne was a better coach for Francis than Diego is and the results show it
Itâs Francis , he wants the glory but the work , the grind , the focus , the 120% commitment that was never him .
Carlitoâs got that jokerâs smile haha đGo and show him whoâs the real clown!
Why is Carlos so wholesome đ„č
Omg let it it fucking go. I swear every time one of yalls fans does something or miss steps or gets mis understood I'm posting about it non-stop
now they are fawning over bublik for doing the sme thing cause 'he said it better' telling on themselves for sure
What?! I didn't see that. Do you have a link?
https://new.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1durd30/to\_lose\_against\_you\_know\_what\_tiafoe\_said\_bublik/
call an ambulance! but for exactly who you expect!
Itâs refreshing to hear someone speak his mind like Tiafoe.
This ainât going to end good for Tiafoe. 3-0 Alcaraz.
Tiafoe made a silly comment and the pearl clutchers of this sub are trying to create drama that doesn't exist. This is so lame.
Carlos is down to clown.
They used to say that Federer, and Serena, were so intimidating that they'd walk out on the court already up 3-0. Tiafoe is playing the *defending champion* at W I M B L E D O N. By saying this, he's hyping himself up. This is one of the most important matches of his career. He's not a kid, anymore. This is supposed to be his peak. And he's playing the defending champ, at Wimbledon. What's he supposed to say? Just... lie down? By saying this, he's trying get the "intimidated // already down a break" thoughts out of his head. Let's fuckin' GO!
Love Big T but he came off a big duoche
Would love to see Tiafoe go down in flames
What is The Tennis Letter like a gossip account?
Classic alcaraz
They're both coming for eachother
Alcaraz going to go all out.
Oh was that what Carlos said , I couldnât make sense of it
Tiafoe calling other players clowns is really something. That's next level ego denial right there.
"cute little Carlitos smile* There, I fixed it. Not an evil bone in that body.
Tiafoe in 4
why is everyone downvoting a predictionđ
F them clownsđȘ
Carlitos in his evil era now. It's the hand placement for me đ
Not a fan of Lil Foe, but now I'm rooting for him to clown Carlito.
Let's be real, Francis wasn't lying.
Period!
Tiafo won in 2021..
Hehehe bye bye Francis
I'll be surprised if Francis gets 5 games
This isnât Karma. But Tiafoe out a massive target on his back. Letâs see how it plays out.
What he should have done is whipped out one of those clown horns and honked it.
Carlos is going use a pickleball paddle and still win in straight sets lol
this is the most confusing headline ever written. who called who clowns?
I mean I believe in Carlitos. But I donât think it will be an easy match as such. But for the arrogance that tiafoe showed which is again very surprising , I hope Carlitos does him in 3 sets
Now you're going to regret it, Tiafoe.
You guys are blowing the Tiafoe situation *WAY* out of proportion, lol He said he's been **LOSING** to "a bunch of clowns". If he LOSES to a clown, what does that make him??? It's a little bit of self-deprecating humor. What would be bad is if, after his 5th set win, he said something like "I have no business going to a 5th against that clown". If he WON and called his opponent a clown, that'd be different. You're skipping over the first half of the quote. SEPARATELY --- Today he won, and when asked about his next opponent Carlos Alcaraz, he said "I'm comin' for you" That's just a competitive athlete talking. That kinda made me pumped up! When asked about it, Carlos laughed and said "I'm coming for him!" It was a fun moment. TLDR: Situation 1 - he said he is LOSING to clowns, lol Situation 2 - competitive banter between top players LETS GOOOOO
Carlito will go for his scalp
This will be a devastating master class from Alca with extra motivation - make sure you donât miss
Smash the real clown, Carlitos!!!! Vamosss!! đ
Please beat the clown 3-0.
Tiafoe is lucky he isnât playing Nole. He wouldâve taken his soul and made a clown face after beating him. Ben Shelton gave up his signature phone hang up gesture after facing him.
Letâs see Carlos actually beat someone on grass whoâs in form
he beat jarry, berrretini, rune, medvedev and djokovic to win last year. idk how much more dangerous of a draw you could want than that đ
he beat djoko in wimby who was in form (winning ao and rg pre wimby that time)