Get to know Frances Tiafoe, the son of Sierra Leonean immigrants wowing American tennis fans at the 2024 US Open

There are few tennis players who can galvanise a crowd like Frances Tiafoe.

Whether it is his shining on-court personality or stunning shots which lift fans off their feet, Tiafoe has built on his popularity by reaching the US Open semi-finals for the second time in his career.

Affectionately known as and earning respect from athletes across the sporting world, The Tokyo 2020 Olympian loves the big stage.

Here is everything you need to know about Frances “Big Foe” Tiafoe, one of the United States’ standout players of this generation.

• Frances Tiafoe's tennis destiny

Frances Tiafoe and a life on the tennis court

Born in Maryland to Sierra Leonean parents, Tiafoe was raised on tennis courts – literally.

In 1999, when Tiafoe Jr. was just a year old, his father was employed to work on the construction of a new tennis academy.

This would become the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) at College Park Tennis Club, one of the most prestigious tennis facilities in the US with 32 courts.

Tiafoe recalled via The Players’ Tribune in 2017, “While my dad worked, I picked up the game during nights and weekends at the facility when the other kids weren’t around. I’d hit against the wall by myself, mimicking techniques I had seen older boys at the academy do. Eventually, I was accepted into the academy, and the rest is history.”

Tiafoe Sr. continued working at the facilities after construction was completed and was given accommodation to live on site, with his two sons living there during weekdays.

Thanks to his father’s work, Tiafoe was able to use the facilities for free, eventually taking up training sessions without paying the usual fees. It gave him the opportunity to play the sport without the huge financial burdens.

Tiafoe, the last player to face Roger Federer in a professional match

“I’d imagine I was playing against Rafa [Nadal] or Roger [Federer] in the U.S. Open,” Tiafoe recalled of his early days, “that those guys were just on the other side of the wall.”

Tiafoe went from imagining what it would be like to play against Nadal to beating him at the 2022 US Open fourth round, going on to reach the semi-final. He also played his first match against Federer in 2017, losing in straight sets but pushing the Swiss to a tiebreak in the first set.

“Though I had never played Roger before, I knew him a little,” Tiafoe explained at the time. “We were friendly. We had shot a few texts back and forth. So knowing that I was going to play him, I wasn’t as nervous as I could have been.

Perhaps most poetic was that Tiafoe played in Federer’s final professional tennis match, a men’s doubles match at the 2022 Laver Cup. Tiafoe, alongside partner Jack Sock, defeated Federer and Nadal 4-6 7-6 11-9.

Two years on from his retirement, Federer was at Flushing Meadows watching and applauding Tiafoe’s quarter-final victory at the 2024 US Open, surely a surreal moment for the American.

Tiafoe transcending sports, from basketball to football

The tennis lover is a real sports fan at heart, showing his support for all of the teams in the Washington area.

He was also spotted donning a New York Knicks jersey while warming up at the US Open, while Tiafoe always has fellow athletes rooting for him at games too.

Some of the famous faces spotted at Tiafoe’s games include NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes and NBA shooting guard Jordan Clarkson. He also linked up with Real Madrid stars Vinicius Junior, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba while in the Spanish capital for the Madrid Open.

From idolising the greats to playing against and in front of them, it has been a remarkable rise so far for Frances Tiafoe.