Kills my bracket!
WIMBLEDON, England — Frances Tiafoe didn’t grow up on grass courts steeped in tennis tradition. He learned to play on the hard courts at College Park’s Junior Tennis Champions Center, where his father worked as the head of maintenance after immigrating from Sierra Leone.
On Monday at the All-England Club, Tiafoe strode onto Wimbledon’s No. 1 Court and played as if its immaculate lawn were his own backyard, hitting with abandon, aggression and palpable joy to oust No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in straight sets and claim his first victory over a top-five player.
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Then, as spectators stood and cheered, Tiafoe ate, at least symbolically, pantomiming eating from a bowl that represented all he has worked for — for himself, his twin brother and his parents who settled in Hyattsville after leaving their war-torn home on the West African coast.
“The more matches you win, the better you do, the better the meal is,” Tiafoe explained when asked about his post-match celebration. “I’m out here trying to eat. Steak dinners aren’t going to pay for themselves; nice dinners aren’t going to pay for themselves. You got to perform, and you got to win.”
Though Tiafoe, 23, has advanced deeper in Grand Slam events, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 Australian Open and the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open, he has rarely looked as confident and commanding as he did in manhandling Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, before a crowd that seemed as delighted as he.
Roger Federer, Serena Williams will open Wimbledon chasing history and fending off time“I live for these kinds of moments,” Tiafoe told the crowd.
The moment Tiafoe exulted in Monday consisted of several key elements: the most prestigious Grand Slam event in tennis; a major stage, playing on Wimbledon’s 12,000-seat Court No. 1; and a world-caliber opponent in Tsitsipas, 22, who came close to winning his first Grand Slam just two weeks earlier as a French Open finalist.
To many young pros, that moment would feel like enormous pressure.
To Tiafoe, it is an honor.
“Pressure was turning pro [at 16], being able to provide for my family,” Tiafoe said during his post-match news conference, wearing a T-shirt with a photo of the late Arthur Ashe, the first and only Black man to win Wimbledon, wearing a fur coat. “I’ve handled my real pressures. … I overcame a lot of things.
“I was a kid that obviously didn’t come from much. I set out a goal from a super young age of using the game of tennis to be able to put myself and my family in positions to live the way I personally think we deserve, with all the hard work they put in, and so did I. To be in financially better situations, living better situation. They worked so hard; they overcame so much.”
WIMBLEDON, England — Frances Tiafoe didn’t grow up on grass courts steeped in tennis tradition. He learned to play on the hard courts at College Park’s Junior Tennis Champions Center, where his father worked as the head of maintenance after immigrating from Sierra Leone.
On Monday at the All-England Club, Tiafoe strode onto Wimbledon’s No. 1 Court and played as if its immaculate lawn were his own backyard, hitting with abandon, aggression and palpable joy to oust No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in straight sets and claim his first victory over a top-five player.
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Geometric Mountain Peak And Sun Whale Pillowcase 45Cm45cm 10/One-Size - $7.99
Then, as spectators stood and cheered, Tiafoe ate, at least symbolically, pantomiming eating from a bowl that represented all he has worked for — for himself, his twin brother and his parents who settled in Hyattsville after leaving their war-torn home on the West African coast.
“The more matches you win, the better you do, the better the meal is,” Tiafoe explained when asked about his post-match celebration. “I’m out here trying to eat. Steak dinners aren’t going to pay for themselves; nice dinners aren’t going to pay for themselves. You got to perform, and you got to win.”
Though Tiafoe, 23, has advanced deeper in Grand Slam events, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 Australian Open and the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open, he has rarely looked as confident and commanding as he did in manhandling Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, before a crowd that seemed as delighted as he.
Roger Federer, Serena Williams will open Wimbledon chasing history and fending off time“I live for these kinds of moments,” Tiafoe told the crowd.
The moment Tiafoe exulted in Monday consisted of several key elements: the most prestigious Grand Slam event in tennis; a major stage, playing on Wimbledon’s 12,000-seat Court No. 1; and a world-caliber opponent in Tsitsipas, 22, who came close to winning his first Grand Slam just two weeks earlier as a French Open finalist.
To many young pros, that moment would feel like enormous pressure.
To Tiafoe, it is an honor.
“Pressure was turning pro [at 16], being able to provide for my family,” Tiafoe said during his post-match news conference, wearing a T-shirt with a photo of the late Arthur Ashe, the first and only Black man to win Wimbledon, wearing a fur coat. “I’ve handled my real pressures. … I overcame a lot of things.
“I was a kid that obviously didn’t come from much. I set out a goal from a super young age of using the game of tennis to be able to put myself and my family in positions to live the way I personally think we deserve, with all the hard work they put in, and so did I. To be in financially better situations, living better situation. They worked so hard; they overcame so much.”