Opinion: After successful US Open run, American Frances Tiafoe can be a huge star for tennis
Can Daniil Medvedev utilize his genius, stop Novak Djokovic’s march to history at US Open?
This version of Tiafoe is very good for the sport. The son of immigrants from Sierra Leone who picked up the sport because his father was the custodian at a tennis center in College Park, Maryland, he knows how inspirational his story is. And he knows how much the flash in his game resonates with young people and casual fans.
Now, it’s just a matter of putting that together with consistently good results like he’s had this summer and he can truly be a crossover star. Even though he’s out of this U.S. Open, it was a big step in the right direction.
“I feel like when I’m out there playing, I feel like it’s bigger than a tennis match, win or lose,” he said. “I almost cried walking off court. Not just even because I lost, it’s just the amount of love they showed me walking off the court. Losing a tennis match is almost irrelevant sometimes what the outcome is. I’m bouncing a ball going into the breaker, deuce or whatever in the third, and I have four kids saying, ‘Whatever happens, you’re my inspiration.’ That’s what it’s about.