October 10, 2019 silverchips Sports F3 Frances Tiafoe: aiming beyond the lines How humble beginnings in College Park shaped tennis’ next big star

By Aviva Bechky his game. “Pops always told me Addressing racial Their effect on tennis is evi- He recalls a moment in his limit,” he says. But beyond the Oliver Goldman to just keep your head up, try to dent today, with young women of junior career when his parents glory of hoisting a trophy into the beat those cats that are laughing, inequality Staff Writers said that he should use tennis as air, he understands that winning and at the end of the day you’ll Today, not so long since the a path towards a college scholar- a Slam could afford him an even be laughing if you do things days when he relied on the club ship. Tiafoe wanted to go pro. greater platform to make a differ- Frances Tiafoe loved tennis right,” Tiafoe says. for support, Tiafoe has accumu- “They said, ‘You’re too ence. even before he was old enough to Tennis was a way out. “Just lated almost three million dollars “I want more black young, you’re talking, whatever,’ “I want to start a foundation,” play on the main courts. At just 6 knowing from where I began and in winnings alone, plus various and I was like, ‘No, I’m serious,’” he says. “I already do tennis stuff years old, he seized every oppor- understanding where I can go endorsement deals. However, people playing he says. Tiafoe has always been with the inner-city kids. Talking tunity to hit balls against the wall with just hitting a tennis ball, that for Tiafoe, success is about more fueled by his humble beginnings to my friends, foundations that and watch older players train. was very motivating,” he says. than just the money. tennis when [it’s] all and a desire to change his cir- they have, and [the Washington “I always remember Frances, His admiration for the game “The money’s cool, the cumstances. Now, he wants to Tennis Education Foundation], so small that his feet were hang- itself pushed him, too. “He was fame’s cool, but at the end of said and done.” promote tennis as a way for kids I’m going to try to do stuff with ing off the benches, watching in total love with the game,” the day, it’s what you’re doing to from similar backgrounds to el- them. I just want to be able to tennis all the time,” senior direc- Ponkka says. “Tennis was his change somebody else’s life,” he -Frances Tiafoe evate themselves as well. give back.” tor of tennis at the College Park best friend, and he took care of says. One way he looks to do that One way he looks to make Tennis Club Vesa Ponkka says. his best friend.” is by helping diversify the sport: Building a platform that impact is by improving ac- “When the coach was done with In 2008, his play started to at- “I want more black people play- Tiafoe lives in Washington, cessibility to tennis. Rackets, training, [Tiafoe] would jump [off tract eyes—one pair in particular. ing tennis when [it’s] all said and color like rising star Coco Gauff D.C. now, but he still trains in strings, and tape are not cheap, the bench] and talk to the coach: Misha Kouznetsov, a new coach done.” and two-time Grand Slam win- College Park at the club he grew while equipment for other sports ‘How about this, how about that, at the club, noticed Tiafoe prac- up playing at. He is happy to be is more readily available. “In can I do this and that?’” ticing one day. “I saw potential in the area. “Every training place basketball, every cornerway has His devotion to the game and I decided to go to work,” he in the world would love to have a hoop, you can hoop. Football, endures. Today, at 21, Tiafoe says. They began training in the you need a football and you can sits on the same benches where clinic together after school. play,” Tiafoe says. he first soaked in the sport. His As they practiced, Kouznetsov LEFT Tiafoe talks about his Also essential to changing the game stacks up with the best in sensed a strong competitor in vision for the future from framework of the men’s game is the world and his feet reach the the making. “He was definitely popularizing tennis with young ground with ease. As of publi- hungrier than the other kids,” the same benches where kids. Ponkka thinks Tiafoe will cation, Tiafoe ranks fifty-first Kouznetsov says. “He wanted it he first soaked in tennis. do just that. “We are hoping that worldwide in men’s tennis, hav- badly.” ing reached a career-high of Eventually, Kouznetsov start- twenty-ninth in February. ed taking Tiafoe to tournaments. But his rise to stardom has not The first tournament Tiafoe been easy. The path was riddled played was at the College Park with struggles. club. He won. “I remember fall- ing to the ground,” Tiafoe says. “I Playing with holes in was like eight or nine years old— that meant everything to me.” his shoes That was the first step in his As kids, Tiafoe and his twin career, which then grew by leaps brother Franklin spent a lot of and bounds. Tiafoe won vari- time at the College Park club. ous events at the junior level and “They lived here twenty-four-sev- climbed to second place in the en, basically,” Ponkka says. That International Tennis Federation was a result of his dad’s employ- junior rankings. He appeared in ment there. his first Association of Tennis Tiafoe’s parents immigrated Professionals (ATP) tournament from Sierra Leone in the 1990s at 16 in the 2014 Citi Open in to escape civil war. In America, Washington, D.C. The following his dad, Constant Tiafoe, found year, Tiafoe went fully pro. a job on the construction crew Tiafoe won his first ATP title building the club. “He was one of in 2018 in Delray Beach, Flori- the guys that built the place night after night,” Tiafoe says. After that, his dad was hired as the cus- BELOW Tiafoe still trains on todian. the same courts he grew up But as Tiafoe spent more time at the club, it became easier playing on at the College Park for him to see that he was falling Tennis Club. DEDE GREENFIELD

COURTESY OF COLLEGE PARK TENNIS CLUB

ABOVE Even at age six, Tiafoe was a hungry and fierce competitor.

him, [but he chose] to move back Frances coming out here [to the from [Florida] to here because club will] get great 6-year-old ath- he wants to be close [to the place letes and their parents [to say], where] he grew up,” Ponkka says. ‘We want to go into tennis in- At the club, says Ponkka, Tia- stead of football,’” he says. foe inspires the young kids who At the same time, children DEDE GREENFIELD are playing in his old shoes. “It’s need more than just a role mod- not only coaches telling, ‘Hey, el. “[We have to] come together in love with a rich man’s sport. da. This past August, he lost in a Men’s tennis has historically ner Naomi Osaka at the you, work harder and you can and really try to make things hap- He needed help covering racket competitive five-set match at the been dominated by whites. Ar- forefront of the sport. 23-year- do this and that,’” he says. “They pen,” Tiafoe says. “Let’s create and equipment costs, along with U.S. Open against the world’s thur Ashe is the only black man old Taylor Townsend plays on now know that, ‘Hey, if I work things and structure for these entry fees for tournaments when sixth best player, Alexander to ever win a men’s single’s title the Women’s Tennis Associa- hard, I can be just like that.’” kids.” he started to compete. That was at Wimbledon, the U.S Open, or tion Tour with the Williams sis- Despite his success, Tiafoe He hopes those structures will where the club stepped in. the Australian Open. ters and agrees that the sisters has not lost sight of the racial be geared towards diversifying The College Park Tennis Non-American black players are helping pave the way for barriers he faced throughout his the game. He has noticed more Club is home to the Junior Ten- “Tennis was his like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael more players of color, including career. “I always feel like you kids of color playing tennis, but nis Champions Center, an ini- Monfils have enjoyed successful women like herself. “When you always [have to] do double the he is not satisfied. tiative which, according to their best friend, and he careers, respectively reaching see people that look like you in load because of being colored,” Tiafoe wants to spark change website, offers “opportunities fifth and sixth worldwide. How- a sport and you have representa- he says. “You have to work just as like that of the Williams sisters. for junior players from all back- took care of his best ever, few American black men’s tion, it gives you hope that it can hard, on and off [the] court, you Rewriting the racial dynamic in grounds to reach their full poten- players have been relevant since be you,” she said in an interview just [have to] be that much better the men’s game on a similar scale tial on the court and in the class- friend.” Ashe’s retirement in 1980, al- with Newsday. because you’re of color. They’re is a tall order, but the opportunity room.” Under this program, the -Vesa Ponkka most 40 years ago. Tiafoe aims to Tiafoe marvels at how far the waiting for us to mess up; that’s for him to lead the charge is here. club covered costs that Tiafoe change that. sport has come. “Serena and just a fact.” Whether Tiafoe will win a and his family could not. Across the aisle in the wom- Venus did an unbelievable job, And yet, Tiafoe has shown Grand Slam and emerge as a su- However, the club’s generos- en’s game, prominent players Arthur Ashe did an unbelievable that these barriers can be bro- perstar remains to be seen. For ity did not resolve all of the issues Zverev. Despite his first-round of color are plentiful. African- job, because [they’re] bigger than ken. He has not won a Grand now, at least one thing is clear: American sisters Venus and Slam, but Ponkka thinks he will. The kid who used to play with that Tiafoe faced. “I was getting exit, Tiafoe feels confident mov- tennis,” he says. But he considers made fun of for the things I was Serena Williams have propelled the work incomplete. “There’s no question about it,” holes in his shoes is ready to wearing, wearing cargo shorts and ing forward. “I’m actually play- the sport in the past two decades He wants to make a difference he says. “He will be top 10, and leave his mark on the game. Pokémon shirts, and cats obvi- ing great tennis,” he says. “I’ve and counting. They have won 30 in the men’s game, and if there is when you are top 10, you com- “If I can be anywhere on that ously be clowning you,” he says. beaten so many top guys, it’s just Grand Slam titles between the anyone that believes in Tiafoe’s pete for a Grand Slam.” level and be able to be in a posi- Despite these distractions, he a matter of doing it each and ev- two of them—seven for Venus ability to be the change, it is him- Tiafoe is confident in his tion to make a difference, I will,” found the motivation to focus on ery week.” and 23 for Serena. self. potential. “I think the sky’s the he says.

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