Frances Tiafoe is an American tennis player whose parents are from Sierra Leone. His biggest career break to date was his debut at the US Open on September 1. At 17 years old he was the youngest in the draw. He was a wild card entry after winning the national championship for under 18 year olds.
Tiafoe began playing tennis at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in his hometown Maryland, where his father worked as head of maintenance. Coach Misha Kouznetsov then began coaching him from seeing the talent of young Tiafoe. The only direction has been up since then. As a junior he won the 2013 Orange Bowl, 2014 Easter Bowl and has been among the players representing the ITF World Junior Rankings.
Tiafoe tried to hold his own in the match in the first round of the US Open. He lost to Viktor Troicki, who’s currently seeded 22nd in the world, by 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
He may have lost the match, but the game is not over for Tiafoe. Many point to him as the future of American tennis. Jay Z certainly thinks so; Tiafoe became the first tennis player to sign with Roc Nation Sports.
Catch Tiafoe on Twitter @ftiafoe