His parents from Sierra Leone fled the civil war
He was once called "an
unlikely tennis prodigy
" by
Sports Illustrated
.
It must be said that Frances Tiafoe comes from a modest background.
He was born in Hyattsville in the United States in Maryland.
His parents, Alphina Kamara and Frances Sr. immigrated from Sierra Leone in the 1990s, both fleeing the country's violent civil war "
I went to a funeral every week
," his mother Alphina said in
Washington Post
in 2014. His parents first landed in England in 1988, then emigrated to the United States in 1993.
To discover
US Open: men's schedule
US Open: ladies' schedule
His father was a maintenance worker... in a tennis club
When Frances and her twin brother, Franklin, were one year old, their father became a janitor at the
Junior Tennis Champions Center
in College Park, Maryland a few months after arriving from Sierra Leone.
"Without him, I wouldn't play tennis.
“, confided his son.
Like his brother, Frances discovered tennis at the age of 4, but he could not be fired from a club.
But while her brother never had the ambition to become a top-level tennis player, Frances progressed at breakneck speed. Detected, the prodigy then joined a USTA training center (the American Federation tennis) in Boca Raton, Florida.
At 13 he traveled for the first time, then he won the prestigious small AS in Tarbes at 14.
At 16, he became the youngest player to win the Orange Bowl in the premier under-18 category.
Read alsoUS Open: Carlos Alcaraz dominates after the suspense Marin Cilic
He had caught the eye of Jay-Z
Very fond of fashion and rap, Frances Tiafoé attended a Jay-Z concert in Baltimore in 2015 and caught the eye of the famous rapper and investor.
In April 2015, when turning professional, Tiafoé signed a contract with
Roc Nation Sports
, a company run by the rapper who already represented NBA and NFL stars.
The partnership ended in 2016.
Only player to push Federer in a 5thset in the first round of the US Open
Frances Tiafoe had pushed Roger Federer into a deciding 5th set in 2017. The American had become the only tennis player to take Federer to a fifth set in the first round of the US Open, since the Maestro's first appearance in 2000. He had then took the first and the fourth innings from the Swiss who had finally eliminated him after 2h37 of play (4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4).
A famous celebration
With each victory, the American, a showman who is very friendly with the tricolor showman Gaël Monfils, likes to show off his muscles.
He does not often hesitate to take off his t-shirt to hit his biceps after each victory.
An imitation of LeBron James, his idol.
After his feat against Nadal, he did not hold back his tears but as "
shocked
" by his feat, he celebrated his victory more soberly than usual.
Remaining for long minutes prostrate on his chair to savor his exploit.
