Since falling in second round action to Taylor Fritz, we’ve seen quite a bit of Gael Monfils. First he showed up in Elina Svitolina’s player’s box, and later the Ukrainian revealed that the pair are dating. Well, Svitolina is still alive in the draw, and Monfils is still around. He was seen on Sunday doing—of all things—his best Frances Tiafoe celebration.
Clearly Tiafoe enjoyed it quite a bit.
Tiafoe, who faces Rafael Nadal tonight in quarterfinal action, isn’t thinking about his next celebration. He knows he has one of the most daunting tasks in tennis, facing the Spaniard who has rolled through the draw like a buzzsaw, spending less than nine hours on court in four matches.
But he has been garnering huge buzz on social media, thanks to his animated post-match victory celebrations, which have been inspired by LeBron James. James even commented on an ESPN Instagram post that compared the celebrations, and Tiafoe said his phone has been blowing up ever since.
The American only has time for so many.
“I'm letting a lot of messages go,” Tiafoe said. Only messaging people that you walk with each and every day. All the other messages, they can wait. The core people that you ride with, that will text you, you started a trip, you didn't win a tennis match. Those are the people you reply to. Not the people that say, ‘Oh, my God, it's been so long, you're in the quarterfinals after Grand Slam.’”