After dominating the US Open this year, Frances Tiafoe shocked the tennis community and helped open the door for other Black American competitors in a white-dominated sport.
The 24-year-old tennis pro dazzled onlookers at the Open by reaching the Grand Slam semifinals for the first time since 2006 for an American guy. Since Arthur Ashe in 1972, he also became the first Black American man to get to a US Open quarterfinal.
LeBron James and other Black sportsmen have praised Tiafoe for his success on the floor.
Tiafoe claimed he had to put in twice as much effort to get through the tennis elite levels as one of the few Black guys in the top 100.
Tiafoe earlier told CNN, “I certainly feel like not everyone wants to see that success in me. “In the end, they want to keep us out of power. I really believe that exists.”
encouraging racial justice
Tennis stardom doesn’t come cheap: Tennis players spend between $175,000 and $2 million year on expenditures, according to a recent research.
Tiafoe told CNN that having role models that Black kids can look forward to is essential, noting that the absence of diversity in sports made him feel like a “alien.”
He continued by saying that he “oblig[es]” to “assist as many people as I can.”
Tiafoe and his girlfriend, tennis star Ayan Bloomfield, made a protest film after the passing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 to bring attention to racial injustice.
Several hundred thousand people saw their “Racquets down, hands up” video on social media, which featured Black athletes and coaches including Serena Williams and Coco Gauff.
Both on and off the court, Tiafoe said that he wants to utilise his position to bring about social change.
“I believe change can happen and you can be positive,” he told CNN. “I think more individuals who have weight, who have a great platform, speak out.”
Tiafoe expressed his intention to give back to the subsequent generation of young people who now look up to him in an open letter to Arthur Ashe that was sent to Ashe in January 2021.
“I want to alter the mindset of any young people out there who don’t believe they can fulfil their goals. I firmly think everyone is capable of success “Tiafoe wrote.
“I want to show them something they didn’t know was possible. They need my assistance to make it a reality.”
“I wanted everyone to understand how important everyone is. No matter who you are, where you’re from, or what colour your skin is, it doesn’t matter. Everyone has the potential to achieve greatness.”
the immigrant parents’ son
Tiafoe and his twin brother, who are the children of immigrants from Sierra Leone, were raised at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Washington, D.C., where their father worked as a maintenance worker. They relocated into a storage space that was empty and slept on massage tables there.
Although Tiafoe began playing tennis as a means of “getting out of our area” and obtaining a scholarship, it quickly became apparent that he had skill and a passion for the game.
At a news conference on Monday, Tiafoe said, “I simply had a huge enthusiasm for the game.” When I was really young and watching Serena and Venus [Williams] compete in Grand Slam finals, I thought, “How wonderful would it be to play Wimbledon, to play on Arthur Ashe, and things like that?”
