How coach Wayne Ferreira helped US Open sensation Tiafoe gain focus
American with his African background and connections is making waves in Grand Slams
Wayne Ferreira says he made 2022 US Open sensation Frances Tiafoe, who the SA tennis legend has coached since 2020, cut down on technology and using his cellphone to gain focus.
Tiafoe has taken the US Open by storm, becoming the first black US man to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows since the late Arthur Ashe in 1972.
Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round and ninth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal.
The story of the 24-year-old American, born to immigrants from war-torn Sierra Leone, has captured the imagination of the world. The US Open’s official Twitter account posted: “Father was a janitor and given a spare tennis centre office to live and work in.
“First coach paid for his tournament entry fees. Turned pro in 2015 and reaches US Open semifinals in his 26th Grand Slam.”
Ranked 26th in the world, Tiafoe had a reputation for battling with fitness and concentration. The Washington Post reported Ferreira “has stressed fitness since becoming Tiafoe’s coach in February 2020, but this year, Ferreira and others on Tiafoe’s team have noticed a shift in the way Tiafoe has dedicated himself to injury prevention stretches and exercises in the gym. Consistency has been key,” his team says.
“In addition to Ferreira, Tiafoe is often joined on the road by Bret Waltz, his physical therapist, and TC Costello, his strength and conditioning coach.”
Ferreira, 50, told the Post: “I think he just has a much better day-to-day routine. Even before matches, he’s doing a little workout.”
In a 2021 video that has done the rounds on social media, Ferreira explains that having Tiafoe run and do posttraining and postmatch treatment without his phone, technology or music has played a part in improving the player’s focus.
“As with most young boys, there are a lot of issues with the technology and the focus and attention span. And what I’ve tried to do on the focus side is not only do it in tennis, I’m trying to do it outside tennis.
“I’m trying to get him to do a lot more off-court running. And the running has to be focused — there’s no music, no phone, no talking or anything like that.
“The next step I’m trying to do, which is a tough one for him, is that when he does his treatment there’s no phone in the treatment.
“We have to look at his treatment as business too. It’s no fun and games — when you finish your job at the end of the day you can take out your phone, and for me that [treatment] is part of the job.”
Playing in the 1990s and early 2000s Ferreira won 15 titles and had a highest ranking of sixth in the world.