Frances Tiafoe gave hope to millions of Americans after his incredible run to the semi-finals of the US Open. Being deprived of the US Open title which came home last in 2003, Tiafoe came the closest to capturing the title in more than 20 years. The American star has always admired Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and looked up to him in his career. He recently talked about his admiration for him.

Even if Tiafoe’s journey came to an end after the semi-finals, he has given himself, as well as his compatriots, a glimpse of the bright future that awaits the current crop of tennis players from the United States.

Frances Tiafoe derives inspiration from Juan Martin del Potro

The retired tennis star Juan Martin del Potro became an inspiration for every aspiring grand slam winner during his heyday on the ATP tour. Tiafoe admires the Argentinian tennis star and talked about the excitement when he saw him at the venue. He said, “I saw him and my friend Jordi saw him and I’ve been trying to find him. I just love him.” He expressed his respect for the player and said, “He was the first kind of guy to win a Slam outside of the big guys here in ’09 and my coach was talking about him when he won the Citi Open back in the day in ’08.”

Tiafoe concluded by saying, “I’ve been a huge fan of his, when he played his last match, when he retired, that was tough for me. I am a huge fan.”

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del Potro’s resilience and his gameplay led him to defeat the five-time defending Champion at the time, Roger Federer at the US Open in 2009. This was an astounding achievement, as Federer was at his peak at that point. In a similar manner, Tiafoe defeated 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, in the fourth round of the US Open.

Tiafoe’s run at the US Open

Frances Tiafoe came to the US Open with no major titles under his name. However, he shocked the Spanish tennis legend and won the hearts of Americans when he won his fourth round match.

Moving on, in the quarter-finals, the player met Russian star Andrey Rublev, but even he could not stop Tiafoe. Next, it was the turn of the rising tennis sensation. Carlos Alcaraz Garfia shattered Tiafoe’s and millions of American’s dreams of bringing the US Open title home when he defeated him in the semi-finals.

This is the first time after 2006 that an American player in the men’s circuit had reached the semi-finals of the US Open. It is a good start for the player and maybe we will see the best of him in the upcoming seasons.

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