Former American tennis star John Isner described the grass courts at the Queen’s Club as “diabolically slippery” after Frances Tiafoe’s injury and his claim was approved by Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
After playing in Stuttgart last week, world No. 28 Tiafoe kicked off his second grass tournament of the year on Monday at the Queen’s Club. Playing against world No. 98 Rinky Hijikata, Tiafoe slipped on the grass in the second game of the third set, and after being in clear pain, the American tennis player retired from the match due to a hip injury.
![Frances Tiafoe](https://www.tennisworldusa.org/world/media/image150271.jpg)
Isner, a former world No. 8, made his Queen’s debut in 2008 and he also made three consecutive appearances at the tournament between 2015 and 2017. In those four appearances, Isner’s best Queen’s result came in 2015 when he was a quarterfinalist.
Isner: Queen’s one of the best events but their courts are diabolically slippery
On the ATP Tour, Queen’s has always enjoyed a strong reputation and has been regarded as one of the best-organized tournaments. That has earned them five ATP 500 Tournament of the Year awards so far.
Reacting to Tiafoe’s injury, Isner praised Queen’s as the event but then called out their courts.
“Queens is undoubtedly one of the best events of year, but the courts are diabolically slippery, especially on Monday and Tuesday. Just ask DelPo. Sucks for Frances, hope he can recover for SW19,” Isner wrote on X.
Queens is undoubtedly one of the best events of year, but the courts are diabolically slippery, especially on Monday and Tuesday. Just ask DelPo. Sucks for Frances, hope he can recover for SW19. https://t.co/VoLJ0S01LP
— John Isner (@JohnIsner) June 17, 2024
Kokkinakis, who is currently ranked at No. 94 in the world, responded to Isner’s post by writing: “Yuppp.”
Yuppp
— Thanasi Kokkinakis (@TKokkinakis) June 17, 2024
Meanwhile, a hip injury came for Tiafoe at the worst possible time since Wimbledon is just around the corner and soon the North American hard court swing is also starting. It remains to be seen if Tiafoe will recover in time for Wimbledon, and if he manages to play at The Championships, how it will all look.