Frances Tiafoe edges Carlos Alcaraz, talks Charlotte Invitational tennis and Taylor Swift
Frances Tiafoe came to Charlotte for the first time in his life this week to face Carlos Alcaraz and christen the new Charlotte Invitational.
The exhibition tennis match, played Friday night before a sellout crowd of 16,194 at the Spectrum Center, was a high-quality hoot. Alcaraz is No. 3 in the world, Tiafoe is No. 18 and the two played dozens of points at the stratospheric level you would expect from two of the best 20 players in the universe. But, as tennis players are wont to do in matches that don’t actually “count” in any standings, they also messed around a lot before an appreciative crowd.
Alcaraz exaggerated fist pumps like vintage Rafael Nadal and hit a between-the-legs winner. Tiafoe, wearing a Charlotte Hornets No. 24 jersey, hit several underhanded serves and ‘tweeners and also loaned his racquet to both current Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton and former Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. Both subbed in briefly midway through the exhibition to hit balls with Alcaraz, and both looked pretty good doing it.
“There is less stress playing these exhibition matches,” Alcaraz said before the match, and you could tell. Tennis exhibitions in December are very much like the NFL preseason in August. The players are experimenting. But they also are trying to get match-tough before the Australian Open and the nearly endless tennis season begins in January.
“We’ll play around a little bit,” Tiafoe said beforehand. “But we also like to get at it too, because it’s more fun playing hard than messing around.”
Once they got semi-serious, Tiafoe staved off a match point and ended up winning, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9). Rather than play a full third set, the match concluded with a 10-point tiebreaker, which went into overtime since you have to win by two points. When Alcaraz sprayed a backhand long, Tiafoe had the win and the bragging rights.
“It’s nice to get this guy out of the way,” Tiafoe said with a laugh in his on-court interview afterward. “It’s time he lost a match every once in a while.”
As for the crowd, Tiafoe joked that “16,000 people came to watch me. Nobody cares about Carlos.” Alcaraz in fact may be the most popular male player in the world who’s still on the tour, as Tiafoe well knows. Alcaraz also sold out Madison Square Garden for another tennis exhibition earlier in the week, that time against Ben Shelton.
In the women’s exhibition that preceded the men’s match, 21st-ranked Madison Keys defeated 64th-ranked Sloane Stephens, 7-5, 6-3. That battle was a rematch of the 2017 U.S. Open final, won by Stephens. The two have been close friends for close to 20 years and often play exhibitions against each other.
Keys got married just a few days before the match in Charleston — Stephens was there — but still fulfilled her commitment to play in Charlotte. In fact, Keys said, if her husband has his way, we might see her around more often in the Queen City.
“My husband really wants to move here,” Keys said in the pre-match press conference, adding that she might look at some real estate in Charlotte before she left.
During the match itself, she joked: “If anyone is selling their house, send me the link.”
For a city with little recent high-profile tennis history — Charlotte tried and failed to lure a prestigious tournament from Cincinnati in 2023 — the Charlotte Invitational felt like a rousing success. The attendance was such that this should — and possibly will — become an annual event. Organizers are working on the possibility.
The crowd basically filled the Spectrum Center in its tennis configuration. Tennis Channel showed the matches live. Andy Roddick, the former U.S. Open champion who lives in Charlotte with his family, participated in the pregame ceremonies (and was once the subject of a viciously accurate on-court imitation by Tiafoe).
And the players got a taste of Charlotte while they were here, too. Alcaraz took “hot laps” at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Stephens and Keys helped unveil a refurbished tennis court in west Charlotte. Tiafoe and Stephens were also on hand for a clinic for a few special guests in the afternoon, which included Smith, Dalton and Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee.
Alcaraz said in the pre-match press conference that among his goals this year was to win the Australian Open in January and to return to No.1 in the world rankings. At age 21, Alcaraz already has won four Grand Slam titles, including the past two Wimbledons. Alcaraz said he was very intent on “completing the career Grand Slam.”
Before the match began, I also spoke one-on-one with the 26-year-old Tiafoe, who grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and has long been an American fan favorite due to his aggressive style and playful personality. Here are a few excerpts from that interview:
▪ On Tiafoe’s goals for 2025: “I want to be one of the top players in the world. .... Obviously, I’ve had some consistency. I ended the last three years in the top 20. But the next level of consistency is being one of the best players, week in, week out. I want to chase the top five. I want to be in that conversation with Carlos and (world No. 1 Jannik) Sinner. ... I want to be a part of that and go very deep in majors.”
▪ On attending a recent Kansas City Chiefs game with his girlfriend and hanging out with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift: “I’ve met Mahomes a few times. ... He’s come to watch me. And Travis has always been a fan. I got linked up with him ... and he said, ‘Anytime you want to come to KC, we’ll give you the red-carpet treatment. ...’ So (Tiafoe and his girlfriend Ayan Broomfield) went out there. We met Taylor Swift and went to Mahomes’ house afterward. ... Taylor was very cool. Down to earth. She understands who she is and that it’s not just about her.
“When she comes out of (performing), she wants to just be a regular person. And it’s almost like she did research. She knew a lot about us. ... She was asking questions and wanting to get to know me. She didn’t have to do that.”
▪ On Alcaraz, who edged Tiafoe in five sets at Wimbledon in 2024: “He’s one of the best movers of all time. ... He makes the court feel pretty small, and you overplay at times because he covers the court so well. He’s not a huge guy, but he’s got crazy pop on both sides and an unbelievable ability of using his speed to be aggressive. Just so gifted. We’ve had some wars (Alcaraz leads the all-time series, 2-1 — Friday’s match, as an exhibition, will not count in their official head-to-head statistics).”
▪ On the NBA, of which Tiafoe is a big fan: “I just love greatness, bro. ... And I think that’s why I love the NBA. I love everything that comes with it. Fashion, music, the athleticism that it requires. Everything. ... And my favorite athlete of all time is LeBron (James). I love that dude.”
