Frances Tiafoe sends amusing message to Madison Keys after being bested in fun challenge ft. Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova

Frances Tiafoe and Madison Keys engaged in a fun game of "Guess the grunt" ahead of their respective French Open campaigns. Keys emerged victorious in the challenge, edging Tifaoe 7-6 in the guessing game.

Tiafoe and Keys share a good rapport and often engage in friendly banter. During her magnificent Australian Open run, Keys said that earlier, she and Tiafoe would exchange texts during events, which would usually be followed by the former getting knocked out of the tournament in the next round.

Considering it to be a bad omen, Keys prohibited Tiafoe from texting her during the event. Even though superstitious, the strategy seemed to work as Keys' amazing run ended in her winning her maiden Major title with a win over two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Ahead of the French Open, Tiafoe and Keys engaged in a fun game of "guess the grunt", where both of them had to guess the players by only listening to their on-court grunts. While Keys guessed all seven players (including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and others) correctly, Tiafoe could not recognize the grunt of Maria Sharapova, giving the win to Keys. Tiafoe congratulated Keys after the former won the game, saying,

"Bad loss smh @madisonkeys" said Tiafoe (via Instagram)

Frances Tiafoe plays "Guess the Grunt" with Madison Keys ahead of the French Open (Source: Instagram)

While Tiafoe begins his Roland Garros campaign on Day 1 (May 25), Keys will be in action on Day 2 (May 26).

Frances Tiafoe does not have a good record at Roland Garros, while Madison Keys is a former semifinalist in Paris

The French Open is the worst-performing Major for Frances Tiafoe, as the American player has won only four matches in his nine appearances at the event, having a poor 31 percent win rate. Meanwhile, Keys has a 67 percent win rate at Roland Garros, reaching the semifinal in 2018, where she lost against compatriot Sloane Stephens.

This year, Tiafoe has a 7-6 win/loss record on clay so far, with his best result being reaching the final in Houston, where he lost against Jenson Brooksby. Meanwhile, Keys has a 5-3 record on clay this year, with her performance reaching the quarterfinal of the Madrid Open, losing 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 against Iga Swiatek.

Tiafoe begins his French Open campaign against Roman Safiullin in the first round, whereas Keys is slated to face Daria Saville in her opening match in Paris.

About the author

Sagnik, a Mass Communication and Journalism graduate, is a tennis journalist at Sportskeeda. Before finding his spot in the tennis writing team, he worked as a junior content specialist for academic content writing firms for a couple of years.

Before putting out any information in the public domain, Sagnik makes sure that every element of his content is well-researched and backed with credible data so that there is no misinterpretation of facts or quotes and ethical standards are maintained. To do so, Sagnik follows reputed websites like the Tennis Channel and Tennis TV, and renowned journalists on social media.

He is a fan of former player Roger Federer, and just like his favorite player, Sagnik likes to bring perfection to his write-ups by providing concise and on-point content. Speaking of the ‘GOAT’ debate, Sagnik believes that it is a bit unfair to compare the legends of the game from different eras who have played on different terms. But if he were to pick one, he’d go for Novak Djokovic based on his tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.

When not writing about tennis and technically analyzing the sport, which he believes are his 'forte', Sagnik indulges in reading books.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua