Carlos Alcaraz sets Frances Tiafoe new challenge in private chat after milestone

Carlos Alcaraz has already given Frances Tiafoe a challenge after the American made his top 10 debut. The 25-year-old reached a career-high of world No 10 on Monday after picking up his third career title in Stuttgart. And Alcaraz had a message for his friend and rival as they crossed paths at Queen’s.

Tiafoe reached a new career milestone as he broke into the world’s top 10 for the first time this week. With his victory in Stuttgart, he now has a title win on every surface – making him just the 16th active player to do so on the ATP Tour.

He was congratulated by Alcaraz as the pair met up on the practice court at Queen’s on Tuesday but the world No 2 had an extra message for the three-time title winner. “Now it’s time to stay there,” the US Open champion said.

Tiafoe was up for the challenge, responding: “Exactly. I’ll be here for a long time, don’t you worry about it.” The 25-year-old became the first new player to break into the top 10 this season, and it means America has two men in the elite rankings group for the first time since May 2012.

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Speaking about the achievement, Tiafoe previously said: “Super emotional. Super emotional for a guy like me with my story and everything. A guy who shouldn’t even really be here doing half the things he’s doing.

“And now when you say his name, you can say he’s Top 10 in the world. So [that is] something that no one can take from you and I’m going to remember that forever. And hopefully, I can ride that for a long time.”

Fans will get an insight into Tiafoe’s story in part two of Netflix’s tennis series Break Point when it drops on Wednesday. The world No 10’s parents immigrated to the United States from Sierra Leone and Tiafoe started playing tennis at the club where his dad was a maintenance worker.

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Tiafoe and his twin brother Franklin would sometimes sleep in the club’s office and would try to hit when they could after hours – even if it was against the wall. And there’s another sweet interaction between Tiafoe and Alcaraz in Break Point after the pair contested a five-set epic at the US Open

Tiafoe narrowly lost in the semi-final and the pair embraced in the locker room afterwards as he told Alcaraz to go all the way, win the title and become world No 1. The Spaniard managed to do it, and Alcaraz has now joined him as a top 10 player with the hunger to stay at the top for as long as possible.

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