In Maryland, Frances Tiafoe’s Former Home Rallies Behind Him

When they weren’t at J.T.C.C., the twins stayed with their mother, Alphina, who also emigrated from Sierra Leone, but met Constant in the United States. Other relatives lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Hyattsville, just a few miles south of College Park.

Since they met, Akli, now 50, said Frances Tiafoe hasn’t changed. “He never gets upset,” Akli said. “Never. He’s always happy on the court, enjoying himself on the court.”

The J.T.C.C. is a nonprofit club that is focused on encouraging and supporting players from diverse backgrounds and concentrates on recruiting promising players from its own backyard.

“It’s not a typical tennis club,” Joe Wilkerson, a vice president of the center, said. “We’re not a club. We’re not an academy. We’re a hybrid of all those things, plus what we do with community outreach in D.C.”

It has 32 indoor and outdoor courts with hard, green clay and red clay surfaces, and offers programs and classes for various skill levels and ages, from beginner adults to children and teenagers aspiring to become the next Serena Williams, Roger Federer or Frances Tiafoe.

After beating Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday, Tiafoe said in a news conference that “it wasn’t supposed to be like this,” adding that he worked hard for his parents.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/sports/tennis/tiafoe-us-open-maryland-jtcc.html