Now, with Tiafoe reaching the semifinals by beating Andrei Rublev in straight sets on Wednesday, he recorded the best grand slam result of his career — a feat made all the more impressive given his humble beginnings. The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd enjoyed the play of Tiafoe, the first black American to reach a US Open semi-final since Ashe in 1972. And in a match where he did not lose serve against the world No.11, he could not let them down. “I feel so at home on courts like this. This court is incredible. You guys are really behind me, you know I want to play and I want to give my best. I always find a way somehow on this court. Always Try to play great tennis and I’ve done it,” she said in an on-court interview right after math. Let’s enjoy this. We have two more kids. We have two more.” Tiafoe’s path to tennis was by no means traditional. His parents met in the US after leaving Sierra Leone and had twins together, Franklin and Frances. Their father, Constant Tiafoe, started working at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Washington, DC in 1999 and eventually moved into one of its vacant warehouses while working around the clock. His two boys sometimes stayed with him, sleeping on a massage table while their mother worked night shifts as a nurse. The unusual gateway to the sport gave Tiafoe the opportunity to start developing his skills and once he started training at the facility, he didn’t look back. “Obviously, I wasn’t the rich kid or I didn’t have all the new stuff or whatever. But I was just living life. I could play tennis for free, the sport I loved,” she told CNN Sport in 2015. Adding that she wouldn’t change her his upbringing for the world. He was asked Wednesday what message people should take from his story. “I mean, anybody can do it, honestly. Obviously that’s a cliché, but I think if you’re really passionate about something… Everybody has a gift,” he said, adding that his passion and obsession is tennis. Guided by his parents’ work ethic, he won the prestigious Orange Bowl — one of junior tennis’ most prestigious tournaments — at 15, becoming the youngest boys’ singles champion in the tournament’s history. He joined a list of past champions that included Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. It was a sign of things to come.
Maturing on tour
Tiafoe turned pro in 2015 and began to acclimate himself to the extremes of the senior tour. He broke into the world’s top 100 and began to assert himself at the grand slams – reaching his first quarter-final at the Australian Open in 2019 before losing to Nadal. Three years on and he found himself on Wednesday in another quarter-final as the world No.26, only this time he felt more ready to take advantage of the opportunity. “Honestly, when I first came on the scene, I wasn’t ready for it mentally and mature enough,” he said on court after defeating Nadal. “I could improve and I have a great team around me. “I’m happy to win in front of my mom, my dad, my girlfriend and my team and see what I did.” While establishing himself as a contender on the field, Tiafoe also pursues social justice off it. In 2022, he told CNN Sport that the lack of diversity in the sport had made him feel like an “outsider” and vowed to continue fighting for equality while he still had the platform to do so. He created a protest video in 2022 to raise awareness of racial injustice following the death of George Floyd that sparked protests around the world. Teaming up with a slew of black players and coaches — including Serena Williams and Coco Gauff — he posted the “Racquets down, hands up” video on his social media channels. “Are we going to help everyone? Of course not, but I’m definitely going to help as many people as I can. That’s my duty,” he told CNN Sport at the time. His performances have even attracted the attention of some of the sport’s biggest names, with NBA star LeBron James congratulating Tiafoe on reaching the quarter-finals. “Thanks bro. Got some work to do,” Tiafoe responded on Twitter. Make no mistake, however, this is not an overnight success story. It’s the product of thousands of hours of work and a don’t-take-no-for-answer mindset. However, with the weight of a nation resting on his shoulders, Tiafoe has always focused on making his parents proud. “As they were trying so hard, I felt like I didn’t want to let them down,” he told CNN Sport in 2015. “I felt like I didn’t want to let opportunities go for granted.” On Wednesday, his coach, Wayne Ferreira, said Tiafoe’s story is the stuff of movies, but he needs to win the US Open or another grand slam first. “You only get films if you do well,” he said. “But his story is very unique and it’s a great story. And he’s very humble. He’s a very, very, very nice person. Very big hearted and kind. You have to love him. He’s really special.” CNN’s Jacob Lev, Steve Almasy, Jill Martin, Will Edmonds and Christina Macfarlane contributed reporting.
