Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Reigning champ Tiafoe returns to Delray Beach with top stars
Frances Tiafoe, the No. 2 American tennis player in the ATP Rankings, returns to the site of his first title on the ATP Tour this week.
Tiafoe, along with Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro and fellow American John Isner, headline a star-studded list of names playing in the Delray Beach Open this week at Delray Beach Tennis Center, with round-of-32 play beginning on Monday.
“A ton of great memories,” said Tiafoe, 21, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone. “Did extremely well there last year, so I’m going to have a lot of fun coming back. … I like that court, court speed is nice, fans were really for me there last time, and just the area. I love Delray.”
Since then, he has also had a runner-up finish at the Estoril Open in Portugal last May. A year later, Tiafoe, who as of Sunday was ranked a career-high No. 29, is looking to expand on that success he saw in South Florida.
“Winning your first title is pretty big. It’s nice to get that off your back, and now you’re looking to do some more things,” he said. “In due time, I hope to win a Grand Slam. Short term, just stay the course and
keep going, keep momentum, keep winning matches, keep beating good opponents to win titles.”
Tiafoe has achieved early success in his career after growing up around a tennis training facility in Maryland where his father worked as the head of maintenance and falling in love with the game.
“He’s an unreal story,” said tournament chairman Ivan Baron. “It’s a great, feel-good story. He’s a great young man, and it’s a thrill to have him back.”
Whereas last year Tiafoe entered the Delray Beach Open with momentum off a quarterfinal appearance in the New York Open, this time he comes in off a surprise early exit, losing his first match on Long Island to world No. 143 Jason Jung in the second round.
Tiafoe is the No. 3 seed this week in Delray with world No. 4 del Potro, whom Tiafoe defeated last year en route to the title, and the ninth-ranked Isner Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
Isner took a late wild card into the tournament, and it’ll be the season debut for del Potro.
“He brings out the fans at night that are electric,” Baron said of del Potro. “They cheer him incredibly loud. They stomp on the bleachers. They make noise. They sing. He’s not only a pleasure to have, for the non-tennis fans, it’s just fun to watch.”
The tournament’s inclusion of Tiafoe, Isner and other top Americans such as Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz, Mackie McDonald and Jared Donaldson puts some of the country’s best players in Delray Beach.
“Definitely want to put it back where it should be,” said Tiafoe of what he hopes to accomplish for American tennis in the future.
Del Potro will face Yoshihito Nishioka at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Isner gets Peter Polansky earlier Tuesday while Tiafoe takes the court at 6 p.m. Tuesday against a qualifier.
The field is playing for $582,500 in prize money.