American Frances Tiafoe heads to Wimbledon with a career-high rating and excessive hopes

WIMBLEDON, England — There is a behind-the-scenes second captured throughout a not too long ago launched episode of the Netflix docuseries “Break Point” the place Frances Tiafoe is warming up in an almost empty Arthur Ashe Stadium hours earlier than his fourth-round U.S. Open match in opposition to 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

“I’m so pumped up for today,” Tiafoe tells his coach, Wayne Ferreira, between follow serves. “I’m coming after this (expletive), bro.”

To which Ferreira responds: “I wouldn’t see any reason why you wouldn’t.”

Tiafoe would, certainly, go after Nadal that September evening whereas producing what was undoubtedly the most important victory of the American’s profession up to now, a step alongside the way in which to his debut in a Grand Slam semifinal in New York.

It additionally was a part of a surge by Tiafoe that has continued this season. He heads into Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, ranked within the Top 10 for the primary time on the heels of profitable a grass-court match for the primary time.

“I knew I was capable on grass, but winning a title helps. Winning on a Sunday just gives you confidence, in general. Since the U.S. Open, any time I’m on a hard or grass court, I feel like I’m at my best and one of the best players in the world and have a chance against anybody,” Tiafoe mentioned in an interview with The Associated Press. “So I have high hopes for Wimbledon.”

Hard to see a cause why he wouldn’t. Consider the way in which Tiafoe has carried out these days: Since getting into 2023 with one profession ATP title and a .517 profitable proportion, the 25-year-old from Maryland has claimed a pair of trophies whereas profitable at a .737 clip.

It’s a part of what Tiafoe known as “this revamp,” a renewed resolve and dedication that took place after he made it into the Top 100 as a young person in early 2017 and rose to the Top 30 two years later, however dropped all the way in which right down to No. 84 in 2020.

On June 19, the day following his title at Stuttgart, Germany, Tiafoe received to No. 10.

“It’s a testament to all of the sacrifices I’ve made for the game,” Tiafoe mentioned. “I’ve done it my own way, and I’m here now – and planning to stay for a while.”

He joined Taylor Fritz as the primary pair of American males concurrently within the Top 10 since Mardy Fish and John Isner in May 2012. Tiafoe can be the primary African-American man to be among the many ATP’s finest 10 gamers since James Blake in January 2009 – and simply the third within the half-century of computerized rankings, together with Arthur Ashe within the Seventies.

Tiafoe and Blake traded textual content messages in regards to the accomplishment.

“Told him, ‘I always wanted to be like you, growing up,’” Tiafoe recounted.

“I’m so proud of him and the hard work he has put in,” Blake advised the AP. “Top 10 is something that can never be taken away and it doesn’t come without hard work and determination. He has put in the hours and followed up on his breakout performance last year at the Open. I’m looking forward to his continued success and watching him inspire the next generation.”

Providing an instance and being an inspiration to others are issues Tiafoe talks about, too.

His “Cinderella story,” as he places it, is exclusive and, by now, well-known: His dad and mom emigrated to the United States from Sierra Leone in West Africa amid its civil conflict within the Nineties; they ended up in Maryland, the place his father helped assemble a tennis coaching middle for juniors, then turned a upkeep man there; his mom was a nurse working two jobs; Frances and his twin brother, Franklin, picked up tennis the place dad’s job was.

“The U.S. Open was my big, obviously, breakout moment. All the hype around it in New York. You can’t imagine,” Tiafoe mentioned. “An American story. My story.”

The Netflix episode that centered on his Flushing Meadows expertise – the hugs and laughter after beating Nadal; the tears after shedding to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz – “got me emotional,” he mentioned.

“To be able to relive those little moments – the car rides after certain things or my reaction to winning a big match. The people around me. You can only relive the actual moment of what happened, which is the match, not everything outside of it,” Tiafoe mentioned. “Ten years from now, I’m not going to remember what I said in that particular moment. All those things are so cool, man.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis author since 2002. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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