Meet Tiafoe, the Sierra-Leonean that ended Nadal's 22 Grand Slam unbeaten run
Tiafoe only has one previous quarter-final appearance at a major tournament on his resume, but he is now being touted as a possible winner of the US Open.
American-born Sierra Leonean Frances Tiafoe has risen into the public eye quite drastically in recent days, especially after he knocked tennis legend, Rafael Nadal, out of the US Open.
The American 24-year-old ended Nadal's 22-match unbeaten run in Grand Slam by beating him in four sets in the round of 16.
Tiafoe only has one previous quarter-final appearance at a major tournament on his resume, but he is now being touted as a possible winner of the US Open.
He is ranked 26th in the world right now which means that he is certainly punching above his weight.
If he does win, he'd be the first American male to do so since Andy Roddick in 2003.
It is Tiafoe's backstory that makes the achievement even more impressive and heart-warming.
Tiafoe is the son of immigrants who moved to the United States from Sierra Leone, fleeing the civil war that enveloped the country in the 1980s and 1990s.
His father, a maintenance worker, and his mother, a nurse, worked day and night to give Frances and his twin brother Franklin a good life, letting the world number 26 play tennis as a hobby on the side.
"I'm a son of immigrants, as both my parents grew up in Sierra Leone, before they came to the States," he proudly told the tennis media.
Even as a junior, he was a prodigal talent, reaching as high as world number two in the ITF Junior rankings.
At the age of 14, he won the Les Petits AS, a tournament that has Nadal, Michael Chang, Kim Clijsters and Bianca Andreescu, among others, in its champion ranks.
Tiafoe is never far away from tennis given he is going out with fellow tennis player Anya Broomfield.
She made her debut on the WTA Tour after being handed a wildcard for the doubles tournament at the Coupe Banque Nationale in 2014.
Ayan Broomfield and Frances Tiafoe have been dating for a while now and revealed their relationship in 2018.
The couple gained a lot of popularity in 2020, when they created a video with other tennis players to raise awareness of racial abuse amidst the death of George Floyd.
