Frances Tiafoe Jr. is an American professional tennis player. The Association of Tennis Professionals has ranked Tiafoe as high as world No. 24 in singles, on August 8, 2022, and world No. 160 in doubles, on November 1, 2021.
Frances Tiafoe: Mother| Father| Interview| College
Mother:
Tiafoe, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Sierra Leone, is the first American man to reach the US Open semifinals since 2006. When Frances Tiafoe was about a year old, his dad was a maintenance worker at a tennis club in College Park, Md.
Father:
Constant Tiafoe
To escape the civil war in their home country, his father escaped Sierra Leone to go to England in 1988 before emigrating to the US in 1993. Tiafoe’s mother joined him three years later.
She told The Washington Post before she left Sierra Leone: “I was going to a funeral every week.”
Interview:
Frances Tiafoe speaks to James Blake: “Coming back from the biggest win of my life [against Nadal] was tough, and Andrey is such a great player … I find a way somehow on this court! Let’s enjoy this guys, we got two more [matches] …”
Tiafoe will face Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner in the semi-final. “Hope it’s a late night!” he jokes. “I’ll be watching with my feet up.” He’s the first American to reach the men’s US Open semis since Roddick, some 16 years ago – and celebrates by having a dance on court.
College:
Salisbury University
After leaving the JTCC, Tiafoe went on to play tennis for DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville and later at Salisbury University on the Eastern Shore. As for the tennis Center in Prince George’s County, it was founded in 1999, training junior, collegiate and professional tennis players.
Speaking to the BBC about his parent’s journey from Sierra Leone, Frances said: “It humbled me and made me serious. It came into my head pretty quick to use tennis as a way to help not only myself but our family because they have sacrificed so much.”
