John Isner: Tiafoe and Novak Djokovic handle my serve like no other
John Isner is impressed by Frances Tiafoe's improvements. The American player can see how hard Tiafoe has worked lately and how the sacrifices are paying off with the 21-year-old reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2019 Australian Open. “He’s got wheels; he’s got the hands; he’s got shots on both sides," Isner told Weekly Standard. "His backhand is world-class. His backhand return is world-class. He was handling my serve better than anyone really, maybe outside of Novak [Djokovic]. I mean, he was really on it. His forehand’s great.”
On Tiafoe, Ray Benton, the chief executive of the Junior Tennis Champions Center, said: “He loves competition. And the most important thing, he’s a good guy with good values. I think the thing that stands out on-court is he’s joyful. He’s determined but he’s happy. He has a great smile. He loves being out there. I think he has the potential to go all the way."
On his game, Tiafoe said: “I like the cat-and-mouse points. I’m a pretty good problem solver. I’m very aware of what’s going on."
In the Delray Beach Open first round, Tiafoe will meet Dan Evans, who is having a good season after having come through the Australian Open qualifiers and losing to Roger Federer in the second round of the main draw. The Brit came through the qualies in Delray Beach as well.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2T1vb1r
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