Dylan Bettencourt
A tennis Grand Slam is always an opportunity to make a name for yourself and that is exactly what Frances Tiafoe has done.
Reaching the semi-final of the US Open has made Tiafoe somewhat of a cult hero with his home crowd in the United States.
But the journey to beating Rafael Nadal and becoming favourite to lift the crown has not been easy for the 24-year-old.
Tiafoe is the son of Sierra Leone immigrants who escaped war in the African country. Tiafoe’s father and mother both gained American citizenship in the 1990s through the green card lottery.
Tiafoe’s path to tennis stardom began when his father worked as part of the construction team building a new tennis centre. After impressing the staff, the father was offered a job as the head janitor.
One of the perks of the job was that he and the Tiafoe family could use the spare office as a bedroom. The Tiafoe twin brothers and their two parents would sleep on the floor and tables.
This is where Tiafoe picked up a liking to the sport, watching others play before picking up a racket at the age of four.
“Us being around tennis got us out of our neighbourhood, with my dad being able to watch us,” Tiafoe said.
“It wasn’t supposed to be anything like this. Once we got in the game of tennis, my dad was like, ‘It would be awesome if you guys can use this as a full scholarship to school’. We couldn’t afford a university, so we used the game of tennis.”
Tiafoe told the NYTimes that he looked up to the Williams sisters during his childhood.
“At that time watching Serena and Venus [Williams] play finals of grand slams, when I was super young, I was like, ‘How cool would it be to play Wimbledon, to play on Arthur Ashe and stuff like that?” he said.
With number one seed Daniil Medvedev, in form Nick Kyrgios and Nadal all crashing out of the year’s final Grand Slam, this could be Tiafoe’s chance at winning the US Open.
First he has to get past the talented Spainaird Carlos Alcaraz on Friday night in the match set for 9pm.
If Tiafoe wins his semi-final he could face either Karen Khachanov or Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final.
Image source: @FanSided
