Frances Tiafoe won a sensational fourth round match at the US Open against the great Rafael Nadal. Frances’ family has a rather peculiar and interesting story with both his father and mother having to emigrate from Sierra Leone to the United States.

Frances’s father used to work in diamond mines before managing to escape. His mother Alphina hit the jackpot after winning a green card lottery to live in the US (the chances were incredibly slim). Frances Sr and Alphina met for the first time in the US. Frances’ father worked as a janitor at a tennis center, which is when Frances’ fairytale started.

Taifoe about their parents

Talking about his parents watching Frances defeating Nadal, the young American commented:

“To see them experience me beat Rafa Nadal — they’ve seen me have big wins, but to beat those ‘Mount Rushmore’ guys? For them, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads. I mean, they’re going to remember today for the rest of their lives.”

 

Tiafoe at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2022

Now ranked no.26, the American has achieved a composed 25-18 record in 2022. The American is playing at the U.S. Open where he toppled the world no.56 Marcos Giron 7-6⁰ 6-4 6-3, the world no.109 Jason Murray Kubler 7-6³ 7-5 7-6², the world no.16 Diego Sebastian Schwartzman 7-6⁷ 6-4 6-4 and the world no.3 Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3

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Frances Tiafoe will play the world no.11 Andrey Rublev in the quarter. Their actual record is 1-1.

Tiafoe was the finalist in Estoril (Millennium Estoril Open).

Rafael Nadal in 2022

Now the world no.3, Nadal played his last match on the 5^th of September when he surrendered to world no.26 Francis Tiafoe 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the 4^th round of the U.S. Open (draw).

Presently, during this year Nadal has managed to achieve a 38-5 match record. Nadal has won 4 titles in 2022 in Melbourne, at the Australian Open, in Acapulco and at the French Open. Nadal got to the final in Indian Wells.

Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Nadal fought against each other 3 times. Their actual head to head record is 2-1 for Nadal. The last time they locked horns, Frances Tiafoe won 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the 4^th round in New York (U.S. Open) on the 5^th of September 2022.

In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.