Red-hot American
Tiafoe, 20, notches 1st Open win
Frances Tiafoe fought to his first-ever singles victory at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Tuesday. One gets the feeling it won’t be the last for the rising young American.
Tiafoe overcame the sweltering heat and humidity — and No. 29 Adrian Mannarino — for a 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the first round of the U.S Open.
Just 20 years old, Tiafoe already had valuable experience at Flushing. He lost a five-set heartbreaker to John Isner two years ago — dropping the final, fateful set 7-6 — and pushed Roger Federer to five sets last year. Tiafoe put those lessons to good use Tuesday.
“Unbelievable. My first win here at the Open,” Tiafoe said during an on-court television interview. “I’ve had a lot of heartbreakers here at the Open. It’s nice to finally get your feet wet and get over the line. I’m trying to make something happen at the Open this year.”
The gifted young player, the fourth-youngest ranked in the top 50, made something happen already, building on a breakout season and giving American tennis fans hope for the future.
Tiafoe had lost his only other meeting with Mannarino, 7-6(4), 7-5, two years ago in Washington. But he clearly has grown as a player since then. His athleticism and power were too much for the Frenchman’s craftiness.
After cruising early, Tiafoe visibly tired on a hot, muggy afternoon. He broke to go up 2-1, but dropped eight of 10 points and fell behind in the third set, eventually losing it 6-4. But he didn’t lose his poise.
With the fourth set tied at 1-1, he got a triple break point and converted to retake the momentum. And on match point, his crosscourt shot just got the line — and after replay confirmed as much, he dropped his racket and gave a LeBron James-style flex.
He bounded up and down, roared “It’s my house! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
“It’s been one hell of a year, know what I’m saying? It’s been crazy. I wasn’t expecting any of this. I’ve been truly blessed,” Tiafoe said on-court. “It’s been an unbelievable year. … It’s been insane, and plenty more to go.”
No more insane than the path Tiafoe has taken to get here.
His father, Frances Sr., who survived more than three years toiling in Sierra Leone’s diamond mines, emigrated to London and then the United States in 1993. His mother, Alphina, followed three years later, winning a visa lottery and a green card to flee a civil war in Sierra Leone during which more than 50,000 were killed and 2.5 million more were displaced.
After Frances Sr., who used to go by the name Constant Zubairu, worked as a day laborer on a construction crew that built the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., he stayed on as the custodian and lived in a spare office at the center. Tiafoe lived with his dad and twin brother Franklin at the center, and naturally picked up tennis by 4.
He has the look of a natural.
“I rolled in deep for the Open,” said Tiafoe, who brought his parents, twin brother, girlfriend, friends, physiotherapist and agent to the match. But the entire Grandstand was rooting as well for one of America’s most promising hopes.