During a changeover 26 minutes into his second-round match in opposition to Sebastian Ofner, Frances Tiafoe reached into his bag, pulled out a contemporary high and adjusted his shirt. Twenty-four minutes later, up by 4-1 in the second set, he swapped that shirt for a clear one once more.
Between the second and third set, Ofner took a medical timeout. Tiafoe had been carrying his shirt for under about six minutes, however he was prepared for one more.
Before the match ended, Tiafoe modified his teal sleeveless shirt as soon as extra. By the finish of his straight-sets victory over Ofner, there was a pile of sweaty shirts by Tiafoe’s bench. He picked all of them up and stuffed them into his bag earlier than leaving the court docket. (Those shirts are later given to the U.S. Open workers members who handle the laundry.)
Through the fourth spherical, Tiafoe had modified his high 20 occasions, a mean of 5 occasions per match.
He will often return to his bench, hydrate and towel off his face and physique earlier than slipping right into a contemporary shirt. He has no particular methodology for figuring out when he wants to alter. Sometimes he’ll seize a contemporary shirt out of his bag at the finish of a set. Other occasions, he’ll change a number of occasions in a single set.
It is just not unusual for a participant who has been sweating in a contest to alter right into a clear shirt a number of occasions every match. But Tiafoe has taken freshening as much as an elite, seemingly compulsive degree.
If he feels uncomfortable, he desires a contemporary high.
“You want to be as light as you can on the court,” Tiafoe mentioned after his second-round victory, including that if he feels even a small quantity of moisture on his shirt, he’ll change it. “I’m very adamant about that.”
Many athletes have quirks. Superstitious baseball gamers jump over foul strains to keep away from unhealthy luck. Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, is steadfast about having two water bottles by his bench positioned diagonally from one another with the logos dealing with the court docket. For Tiafoe, it’s a close to obsession with altering shirts — maybe greater than another participant on the males’s tour.
At tournaments, many gamers put on one outfit and keep it up; others swap out an outfit solely whether it is uncomfortable or appears unfortunate. At final 12 months’s U.S. Open, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, requested an umpire for permission to alter her outfit in the center of a match.
Players can change tops from their benches throughout matches. Men are allowed two alternatives to depart the court docket for an entire outfit change in a best-of-five match, and girls are allowed one change of apparel in a best-of-three match.
“Shirts, socks and shoes should be changed on court,” the International Tennis Federation rule ebook says.
At this 12 months’s U.S. Open, Tiafoe has sported a teal, sleeveless high patterned with shades of child blue, coral, peach and maroon. He has accomplished his ensemble with teal shorts and a pair of bright red shoes along with his nickname, Big Foe, throughout the heels.
Tiafoe mentioned he packed as many as 20 tops in his bag to make certain he had sufficient for his matches. He additionally takes two further pairs of sneakers, in case a pair turns into too sweaty.
“I don’t want to feel like I’m playing with really sweaty clothes just because I’m not prepared,” Tiafoe mentioned. “I know how much I can sweat.”
And Tiafoe sweats so much. In a few his matches at this event, even after he has modified shirts, Tiafoe has wanted assist from a ball crew member to peel his shirt off his again as a result of the high had caught to his shoulders.
The climate at the U.S. Open has appeared to play a job in what number of occasions Tiafoe has modified garments.
In his first-round match, the humidity ranges made enjoying circumstances really feel muggy inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. In that match, in opposition to Learner Tien, Tiafoe modified his shirt six occasions.
But even after a chilly entrance swept by way of New York in time for Tiafoe’s second- and third-round matches, he perspired sufficient to alter 4 occasions on Wednesday in opposition to Ofner and 4 occasions on Friday in opposition to Adrian Mannarino.
By his fourth-round match in opposition to Rinky Hijikata on Sunday, temperatures had reached 88 levels. This week, the forecast is for humid days with temperatures into the 90s by way of Thursday, above regular for this time of 12 months in New York, earlier than settling into the 80s for the semifinals and remaining.
When Tiafoe performs Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals on Tuesday that may in all probability imply extra sweat and extra shirt adjustments.
But who’s counting?
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