COVID-19 could not stop last American men’s player from reaching round of 16 at US Open
NEW YORK — The last American male standing at the U.S. Open is ranked No. 82 in the world and began his summer by announcing on the Fourth of July that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He aims to continue it on Labor Day with a different sort of positive, in Arthur Ashe Stadium, in a round-of-16 matchup against No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, who battled Rafael Nadal over five sets in last year’s final.
“I’m ready to go now,” Frances Tiafoe told USA TODAY Sports after a practice session Sunday. “Feeling good and playing well. My (COVID-19 result) was definitely a shock to everybody. My symptoms weren’t too bad, thank God.” He believes it was almost a blessing that the Citi Open, the August tour stop in D.C., not far from where he grew up (Hyattsville, Maryland) was canceled.
“I was pretty nervous about that, because I didn’t have much time to prepare,” he said. “In hindsight I think everything worked out in my favor.”
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Tiafoe is 22 and nicknamed The Big Foe. He is one of the best stories in American tennis, and he was even before he made the fourth round at the Open for the first time. He is the son of refugees who fled Sierra Leone amid a civil war. His father, Constant, helped on the construction of the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, Maryland, then worked as a maintenance man there, where his five-year-old boy would hit the ball against the wall, pretending he was playing Roger Federer at the U.S. Open.
