Frances Tiafoe Jr. biography: 13 things about tennis player born in Hyattsville, Maryland

Frances Tiafoe Jr. is a Sierra Leonean-American professional tennis player. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He is currently based in Orlando, Florida, United States.
2. He and his twin brother Franklin Tiafoe were born in Hyattsville, Maryland, USA to Sierra Leonean parents.
3. His tennis idol growing up was Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina, the first professional tennis player to sign a tennis ball for him.
4. Aside from tennis, he also likes basketball.
5. He is 6’2″ tall.
6. In 1993, his father Frances “Constant” Tiafoe Sr. immigrated from Sierra Leone to the U.S. Constant worked as a day laborer on a construction crew that built the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, Maryland.
7. In 1996, his mother Alphina Kamara immigrated from Sierra Leone to the U.S. She worked night shifts as a nurse.
8. In 2002, he and Franklin started playing tennis regularly.
9. In 2003, his father arranged for him and Franklin to start training at the JTCC.
10. From 2006 to 2015, Misha Kouznetsov coached him at the JTCC.
11. In 2013, he became the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships‘ youngest boys’ singles champion.
12. In 2015, he moved to the USTA National Training Center in Boca Raton, Florida and turned pro.
13. In 2018, he confirmed his relationship with his fellow tennis player Ayan Broomfield.

TIMELINE

2016

• In May 2016, Nike started sponsoring him.
• In August 2016, he won the 2016 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby men’s singles in Granby Canada.
• In October 2016, he won the 2016 Stockton ATP Challenger singles in Stockton, California, USA.

2017

• In February 2017, he lost to del Potro in the first round of the 2017 Abierto Mexicano Telcel men’s singles in Acapulco, Mexico.
• In April 2017, he won the 2017 Sarasota Open singles in Sarasota, Florida.
• In May 2017, he won the 2017 Open du Pays d’Aix singles in Aix-en-Provence, France.

2018

• In February 2018, he won the 2018 Delray Beach Open singles after defeating Matthew Ebden in the first round, del Potro in the second round, Chung Hyeon in the quarterfinals, Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals and Peter Gojowczyk in the final round.

2019

• In January 2019, he finished in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Australian Open in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia after losing to Rafael Nadal.

2020

• In October 2020, he won the 2020 Internazionali di Tennis Emilia Romagna singles in Parma, Italy.

2021

• In June 2021, he won the 2021 Nottingham Open men’s singles in Nottingham, England, United Kingdom.
• In July 2021, he represented the U.S. in tennis men’s singles at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan the and finished in the second round after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

2022

• In September 2022, he defeated Nadal in the fourth round of the 2022 U.S. Open men’s singles in Flushing, New York, USA and finished in the quarterfinals after losing to Andrey Rublev.

2023

• On January 20, 2023, he turned 25.
• On February 17, 2023, he was one of the players in Dwyane Wade‘s team that won the 2023 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
• In April 2023, he won the 2023 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships men’s singles in Houston, Texas, USA.
• In June 2023, he won the 2023 Stuttgart Open singles in Stuttgart, Germany.
• On September 5, 2023, he finished in the quarterfinals of 2022 U.S. Open men’s singles in New York City, New York after losing to Ben Shelton.