Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe

Tiafoe at the 2013 US Open
Country  United States
Residence College Park, Maryland
Born January 20, 1998
College Park, Maryland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Turned pro 2015
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $33,938
Singles
Career record 0–1
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 381 (April 27, 2015)
Current ranking No. 381 (April 27, 2015)
Grand Slam Singles results
US Open Q1 (2014)
Doubles
Career record 1–2
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 521 (September 22, 2014)
Current ranking No. 575 (April 27, 2015)
Grand Slam Doubles results
US Open 2R (2014)
Last updated on: April 27, 2015.

Frances Tiafoe (born January 20, 1998) is a junior tennis player and is widely considered the United States' next tennis star.[1][2][3][4]

History

Frances' parents, Constant and Alphina, are immigrants from Sierra Leone. He has a twin-brother named Franklin. In 1999, his father, began working as a day laborer on a construction crew that built Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, and was later hired as the custodian. At age four, Frances began training at JTCC. When he was eight, a tennis pro at the Center, Misha Kouznetsov, became his coach and mentor.[5]

Junior career

On December 13, 2013, Tiafoe became the youngest player to win the Orange Bowl.[6][7] He defeated Stefan Kozlov 7–6(7–3), 0–6, 6–3. On April 13, 2014 he won the Easter Bowl with a victory against Nathan Ponwith 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2.[8] In May, he was top seed in the French Open junior tournament. However, he was upset in the second round by Jan Choinski.[9][10] He went into Wimbledon seeded 7th and was knocked out in the third round to fellow American Noah Rubin. He came back strong in the U.S. Open getting to the semifinals where he lost a very tight match to Quentin Halys from France.

Professional career

2014

Tiafoe was granted a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the BB&T Atlanta Open. In the first round, he defeated Benjamin Balleret 6–4 6–2 before falling to 8th seed Michael Venus 3-6 7-6 6-7. Venus went on to qualify for the main draw.

The following week, Tiafoe was granted a wildcard into the main draw of his home tournament, the Citi Open where he lost to Evgeny Donskoy 4–6 4–6.

Tiafoe and doubles partner Michael Mmoh received a wildcard into the Men's Doubles tournament at the US Open; winning their first round match before losing to Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram in the second round. Tiafoe also received a wildcard into the U.S. Open singles qualifying draw, but fell 7–6 4–6 6–3 in the first round to 11th seed Tatsuma Ito who went on to qualify for the main draw.

2015

Tiafoe was granted a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the Memphis Open, but lost in the first round to 1st seed Filip Krajinović 6–2 1–6 4–6. Krajinović would go on to enter the main draw as a Lucky Loser. On March 22nd, he claimed his first professional title winning the Bakersfield, CA futures tournament.[11] He officially announced he was turning pro on April 6th 2015.

Turning next to the American clay challenger circuit, Tiafoe put together a run of solid results that pushed him into the Top 400 in the world. Entering as a qualifier, Tiafoe defeated five opponents en route to the quarterfinals at the Sarasota Open. [12] He then reached the semi-finals of the Savannah Challenger, losing to James McGee. [13] Following his performance in Savannah, Tiafoe was the leader in the 2015 Har-Tru Wild Card Challenge, with a trip to the French Open on the line. [14]

Entering the final tournament of the Har-Tru challenge, Tiafoe notched his first win against a Top 100 opponent, defeating Facundo Bagnis in the first round of the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger. [15] Tiafoe is currently in the semifinals, where he will face Tennys Sandgren.

References

  1. ↑ Unlikely prodigy Francis Tiafoe hyped as U.S. tennis' next great success
  2. ↑ Francis Tiafoe is a hot name in U.S. tennis circles
  3. ↑ Francis Tiafoe, Next Big American Tennis Star?
  4. ↑ An improbable tennis prodigy
  5. ↑ Growing Up With a Home Advantage
  6. ↑ Teen star Francis Tiafoe takes title, makes Orange Bowl Tennis Championships history
  7. ↑ College Park’s Francis Tiafoe, 15, becomes youngest tennis champion at Orange Bowl juniors event
  8. ↑ Francis Tiafoe of College Park wins the Easter Bowl junior tennis championship
  9. ↑ Prince George’s native Francis Tiafoe, the No. 1 seed at the French Open junior tournament, realizes his dream
  10. ↑ Top seed Francis Tiafoe loses in second round of Junior French Open
  11. ↑ http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100034280
  12. ↑ http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/04/16/Challenger-Weekly-Spotlight-20-April-2015.aspx
  13. ↑ http://savannahnow.com/sports/2015-04-25/mcgee-chung-advance-challenger-finals
  14. ↑ http://longislandtennismagazine.com/article7239/seventeen-year-old-tiafoe-takes-har-tru-pro-circuit-wild-card-challenge-lead
  15. ↑ http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/2015/04/28/youth-prevails-usta-tallahassee-tennis-challenger/26553923/

External links