From Praise to Hate, Frances Tiafoe Reveals What Keeps Him Loyal to Tennis

Born in Maryland to Sierra Leonean parents, tennis star Frances Tiafoe’s rise to prominence is a remarkable story of overcoming numerous adversities and demonstrating his exceptional talent. He used to sleep at the tennis center where his father was a janitor. From there to becoming the first Black American to make the men’s SF at the US Open (2022) since Arthur Ashe did it almost fifty years ago. Highlighting his incredible journey, Tiafoe once said, “It’s a movie, man, an absolute movie. I say it all the time.” In his childhood, he always had the question: “Can you imagine if we do this right?” Tennis has given him the platform to not only build a career out of it, but he has now become an inspiration to several others. What is the favorite thing about playing tennis, according to him, though?

Following his historic feat in 2022, Frances Tiafoe yet again became the talk of the town a year later when he became the first Sierra Leonean American man to be ranked in the Top 10 by the ATP. Reflecting on that moment, he had then said it’s, “Super emotional for a guy like me with my story and everything.” It was something that he claimed he’s “going to remember that forever.” There have been a lot of good times and bad times in these ten years, but what is that one thing that he likes most about this beautiful sport?

In a recent fun interview session with a little kid from the NJTL, Tiafoe spoke about this. The USTA shared this video clip on their IG handle, and in that video, when the little girl asked a similar question, Frances Tiafoe replied, “My favorite thing about playing tennis is the one-on-one competition. And when you win, it’s on you. And when you lose, it’s on you. When you win, you get all the praise. And when you lose, you’ve got to deal with all the hate, but I think it’s amazing to, you know, play one-on-one. It’s all on you, and it builds a lot of character.”

Now, since we’ve seen his favorite thing about playing tennis, let’s find out what his goals are in this sport. In October 2024, the 27-year-old American tennis star gave an interview with Olympics.com. During that interview, he revealed his goals in tennis. Tiafoe said, “I want to be on top of the game. I want to win majors, I want to be in the top three, top five and at that point, why not No. 1? But my real goal is to win a major. Let the rankings fall where they may but I want to be on the top of the game for a while and be in a position where I’m competing for Slams and Masters Series for the next five or six years for sure.” 

Tiafoe’s best record in the major tournaments has been reaching the SFs of the US Open in 2022 and 2024. All he now wants is to use his success to inspire others…

American tennis star Frances Tiafoe wants to be a “good role model”

Frances Tiafoe‘s story from being a rising star to a superstar in the tennis world has truly been quite inspiring. But talking about his real aim while chasing excellence in the sport, he once said, “I want to be known as a guy who was caring for the fans, a guy who wants to really build an unbelievable legacy. My goal is to help more black people play tennis, ultimately, and just to be a good role model.“

In another interview, he spoke about how, without the Williams sisters, there would’ve been no Naomi Osaka, no Coco Gauff, no Sloane Stephens, or no Madison Keys. Because they all have grown up watching the Williams sisters lifting innumerable trophies. According to Frances Tiafoe, it was Venus and Serena Williams who put people of color in the position to believe they could do it as the underdog. So, all he now wants is to “be that guy for the men’s side.“

Adding more to that, he stated, “I want to be one of the guys who can put two weeks together and win a slam. It doesn’t matter how small or big your platform is, everyone has people who want to be like them. To be that guy, to inspire them, to be there and pick up the phone when they call, representation is everything.” 

However, Tiafoe not only wants to inspire others but also wants the sport to revolutionize. How? In 2023, during an interview with Forbes,  Tiafoe spoke about the changes that could make tennis more popular among the masses, especially the younger generation. He said, “I think fans should be able to come and go and move around, and speak during matches. Imagine going to a basketball game and not saying anything.” In addition to that, he also spoke about how tournaments like Wimbledon should retain the traditional way of playing tennis, but he feels, “outside that, let’s start to change things to bring younger fans to the game.“

What are your thoughts on this, though? However, amid all these, Tiafoe is all set to start his campaign at the Italian Open against Sebastian Ofner. The American has a 1-0 record against the Austrian in the H2H stat. Do you think he can get off to a winning start in Rome?