Who is Frances Tiafoe? Meet the American tennis player that stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon

Jacob Camenker

Who is Frances Tiafoe? Meet the American tennis player that stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon image

History repeated itself at Wimbledon for Stefanos Tsitsipas. The No. 3-ranked player in the tournament and No. 4-ranked player in the world was unable to get out of the first round of the tournament for the second time in as many appearances at the All-England Club.

Frances Tiafoe upset Tsitsipas in a three-set victory (6-4, 6-4, 6-3). The 23-year-old American had just an 8-9 record on grass courts coming into the day but played consistently throughout the match.

He was able to earn his first career win over a top-five player as a result.

"It sounds pretty damn good," Tiafoe said when asked about being a winner after the match.

Tiafoe's performance was a strong one, and he delighted the crowd with his energy. But who exactly is he? Here's everything you need to know about Frances Tiafoe in wake of his surprising Wimbledon victory.

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Who is Frances Tiafoe?

Frances Tiafoe is an American tennis player who turned pro in 2015 at the age of 16. He was born in Hyattsville, Md. to his parents, who emigrated to the United States from Sierra Leonne to escape the country's civil war in the 1990s. His father helped to build the Junior Tennis Champions Center at College Park, Md., and Tiafoe's training began at that facility.

Before he turned pro, Tiafoe had been ranked as high as No. 2 overall in the International Tennis Federation's world junior rankings.

Tiafoe made his pro debut at the ATP Challenger level. He quickly climbed the ladder there in 2015 and 2016 before working his way into the world's top 100 players in October of 2016. That came after winning the 2016 ATP Challenger over Noah Rubin.

In 2018, Tiafoe earned his first ATP Tour title by winning the Delray Beach Open. He became the youngest American since Andy Roddick to win an ATP Tour title and defeated Juan Martin Del Porto along the way to earn the victory.

Over the last few years, Tiafoe has continued to improve his game. He made a run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Australian Open, knocking off No. 5 Kevin Anderson and No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov before losing to Rafael Nadal, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. He also made it to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open in 2020.

During his career, Tiafoe has posted an 81-107 record in singles competition and a 15-24 record in double competitions. He has been ranked as high as 29th in the world, which came in February of 2019, and before his match with Tsitsipas, he was the 56th-ranked player in the world.

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Frances Tiafoe's Grand Slam results

Tiafoe has appeared in 21 Grand Slam tournaments since he first appeared in the 2015 French Open. Here's a look at his results in each tournament.

Wimbledon

Year Result
2015 Did Not Participate
2016 Did Not Qualify
2017 Second Round
2018 Third Round
2019 First Round
2020 No Tournament (COVID-19)
2021

U.S. Open

Year Result
2015 First Round
2016 First Round
2017 First Round
2018 Second Round
2019 Second Round
2020 Fourth Round
2021

Australian Open

Year Result
2015 Did Not Participate
2016 Did Not Qualify
2017 Second Round
2018 First Round
2019 Quarterfinals
2020 First Round
2021 Second Round

French Open

Year Result
2015 First Round
2016 Did Not Qualify
2017 First Round
2018 First Round
2019 First Round
2020 First Round
2021 First Round

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.