Frances Tiafoe forgets his racquets in funny pre-match Indian Wells scene

After losing a bet to Tommy Paul, one Philadelphia Eagles cap has been added to Frances Tiafoe's gear at the BNP Paribas Open. But when he arrived to the courts for his first match of the tournament, the American was missing another key piece of equipment: all of his racquets.

The humorous scene unfolded late on Stadium 2 Friday night as the No. 16 seed faced Bosian qualifier Damir Dzumhur. With court shoes in hand, Tiafoe looked all business as he arrived wearing a fresh Lululemon kit and white Beats headphones. However, it soon became apparent that the two-time US Open semifinalist wasn't all that ready to go at the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season when he unzipped his racquet bag and found the pocket that was supposed to contain his Yonex sticks empty.

Quickly informing umpire Aurélie Tourte and his opponent of the situation, Tiafoe left to his coach, David Witt, to locate the missing racquets.

Witt sprinted from the arena, and after a brief delay, returned to the court with a half-dozen freshly-strung racquets. Witt handed them to Tourte, who dutifully passed them along to their owner, and the crowd offered a rousing cheer as Tiafoe and his racquets were finally reunited.

Read more: Frances Tiafoe on meeting Taylor Swift: 'She's got my ultimate respect'

In all, the delay lasted about 10 minutes, and may have thrown the American for a bit of a loop against a player who had already won three matches at the tournament. Gear in hand, Tiafoe eventually won 7-6(4), 7-6(7), but only after coming from a break down twice in the first set, and 5-1 down in the second set.

He later saved four set points to stave off a post-midnight finish, and reach the third round in the desert for the fifth year in a row.

“At 5-1, it’s so funny, you kind of care less. I started swinging the ball amazing and all of a sudden started hitting huge, threw a lot of points together really fast," the 2023 semifinalist said post-match..

“In the breaker, get a little lucky. He was doing the right things. Just played two good points and he goes for a shot he probably shouldn’t have, was a little tight.

“Just got to dig deep there but at that point I’m like, ‘I just really want to get it done in straights’. And I’m happy I did. I’m happy it was ugly, to be honest with you, I need tough, gruelling wins. This gives me a ton of confidence.”

Another qualifier, Yosuck Watanuki, awaits Tiafoe in the third round. Safe to say he'll be prepared for this one, on both accounts.