Frances Tiafoe is on track to become the next Andy Roddick, or the next American man to win the US Open since 2003. Here’s more on the ascending American tennis star.
“Frances Tiafoe — he’s always full of energy. It’s always great to see him. You’d like to see him under the lights. He has the kind of personality that lends itself to dramatic night tennis at the US Open, so you hope he gets that opportunity.”
Andy Roddick spoke glowingly of Tiafoe ahead of his 2022 US Open run, and Roddick couldn’t have been more accurate. Of the several American men Roddick mentioned when asked who the next major champion could be, Tiafoe is the one who has made it all the way to the quarterfinals. With Coco Gauff and Serena Williams out of the tournament, it is Tiafoe who could now bring home the next title for the United States.
As Roddick expected, Tiafoe did stun under the bright lights and gave us a dramatic night match when he bested Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of their Round of 16 match. Tight 6-4 sets alternating between Tiafoe and Nadal led to a 6-3 set that gave Tiafoe an unexpected victory.
It’s not that Tiafoe hasn’t been phenomenal, but his breakthrough in the US Open could give him a title that has eluded the men’s side for nearly two decades since Roddick.
Casual tennis fans and die-hards alike are learning more about Tiafoe as he represents the United States on one of the biggest stages this September.
Who is Frances Tiafoe? U.S. tennis star could become the next Andy Roddick at the US Open
The 24-year-old tennis star is originally from Hyattsville, Maryland, and growing up in the DMV area has given him a special connection to the Citi Open. It was there that he became exposed to the game early on and began admiring Juan Martín del Potro, who won the US Open in 2009.
Tiafoe’s parents, Constant Tiafoe and Alphina Kamara, emigrated to the United States from Sierra Leone during the 1990s to escape civil war within the country. Frances and his twin brother, Franklin, were born in 1998.
The Tiafoe twins became fated to play the game when their father worked as a day laborer constructing the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland in 1999. When the JTCC was completed, Constant was hired as the on-site custodian and given an office space to live in. This was where Frances and Franklin spent five days a week playing on the tennis courts while their mother worked night shifts as a nurse.
The Tiafoe twins began training at age five, their parents working to give them the best opportunity to play the game possible — much like the lengths Richard Williams went through with his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams. That familial support and encouragement sent Frances on a path to being noticed by Misha Kouznetsov, his eventual coach. Kouznetsov coached Tiafoe through his childhood and teenage years at USTA National Training Center in Boca Raton, Florida.
In early August, Frances Tiafoe teamed up with WTEF ahead of the Citi Open to give back to kids in the DMV community and support HBCU tennis players. Tiafoe spoke about how “so many” memories of his JTCC days came flooding back when he was on the court working with kids through WTEF. Although he’s still young, Tiafoe’s ability to inspire generations after him are what motivates him on the court.
"“Yeah, I’m super connected with these guys year-round, so to be able to see some of these guys and remember their names and have a relationship with them and have them so excited to see me, and ‘Oh my God, we were watching you at Wimbledon; we all got up super early to watch,” all these little things, it’s so cool.And yeah, and then they become long, long-time fans. It’s just an honor. The parents get super excited to see me; I’m locked in with everybody. When I’m out there competing, it makes me want to give that much more.”"
Within the past ten years, Tiafoe was able to excite the American tennis world as the game’s next rising star, especially in the absence created by Roddick’s departure from the court in 2012. Tiafoe won the 2013 Orange Bowl, becoming the tournament’s youngest-ever boys’ singles champion at just 15 years old. Two years later, he was the young American in the main draw of the French Open since Michael Chang made history in 1989. Tiafoe also saw major success on the ATP Challenger as a teenager, making nine finals and winning four titles.
Of course, transitioning to men’s tennis tournaments has long meant facing The Big Three who have dominated the sport for two decades: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Defeating Nadal at the US Open symbolizes the changing of the guard that tennis fans can come to expect: the time is coming for a new generation to take the mantle of champion.
There were other American tennis stars mentioned by Roddick — Taylor Fritz, Jenson Brooksby, Seba Korda — but at this moment, Frances Tiafoe is the name Americans can hang their major hopes upon. Brooksby defeated Tiafoe a few weeks before the US Open, but as every tennis tournament proves, anything can happen — even an American men’s champion in 2022.