Frances Tiafoe

[Lucas]

Najwyższy ranking w karierze (11.05.2015):
292

[bogdan1978]

18.05.2015

Najwyższy ranking w karierze: 291

[grzes430]

EMIRATES ATP RANKINGS - STARS OF TOMORROW
STARS OF TOMORROW: FRANCES TIAFOE

Spoiler:

With hip hop mogul Jay-Z in his corner, Frances Tiafoe is hoping to hit the high note on the ATP World Tour: No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 17 year old’s journey is as captivating as his potential.

It’s 2:46pm on Wednesday, 15 April, and Frances Tiafoe is grinding on the practice courts of the Sarasota Open.

The American sends a plume of crushed basalt stone soaring as he slides into a backhand. His racquet wraps around the ball and in one swift whipping motion, slings it screaming down the line. Before the dust descends, Tiafoe is whizzing to the deuce side, punishing a forehand.

Nylon string clashes with felt fibres as he effortlessly jabs his right arm forward, sending the ball hurtling to a graveyard of fluffy yellow spheres embedded in a chain-linked fence. Tiafoe shuffles back, knifing a low backhand as sweat cascades from his brow.

“One!” A voice rings out from the other side of the net, barely audible above the thunderous blows.

“Two!” A backhand.

“Three!” A forehand.

“Short ball in!” The 6’2” right-hander hustles forward, ending the drill with one last thwack as the ball skids off the far tramline, ripping bits of chalk from the ground like a potato peeler. The mottled green clay, emblazoned with streaks of Adidas, gets a much-needed rest. So does Frances.

After four grueling matches in four days, this is the 17 year old’s first “day off” of the tournament. Competing in his first event on the ATP Challenger Tour, Tiafoe laboured for a combined seven hours and 41 minutes in winning three qualifying matches, rallying from a set deficit on two occasions. Then, an emotional win over friend and fellow rising American star Michael Mmoh gave him his first main draw victory.

Watch Sarasota Interview | Watch Tallahassee Interview

Where many teens would acquiesce to fatigue and embrace a day of recovery, Tiafoe is wired differently. Each crossroad presents a new opportunity for growth and on the Maryland native’s path to ATP World Tour stardom, there are only green lights.

After all, this dedicated attitude, being loyal to the task at hand without compromise, is embedded in his DNA.

“I can’t thank him enough,” Tiafoe said of his father. “Without him I wouldn’t be playing tennis.”

Constant Tiafoe led by example. An immigrant from Sierra Leone who worked as a day labourer – and eventually promoted to Head of Maintenance – at the now thriving Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, he earned everything through his strong work ethic. Diligent, tenacious and trustworthy, Constant would instill these traits in his son and at the age of four, young Frances first stepped on a tennis court. He has not left since.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. In this case, the village was the JTCC. Living with his family in a small storage room at the academy and often napping on massage tables, he employed his father’s recipe for success in his own craft, splitting 12-hour days between school and tennis training. Provided free access to coaches and world-class resources, he honed his game through countless hours of practice.

“I’ve focused on staying tough and always competing; to never give up,” Tiafoe added. “That’s a good trait since a young age. To go for your shots and take more risk. It pays off in the game today. Grinding only gets you so far. You get a good look and you have to go for it. You have to keep going. I’m improving, but I haven’t accomplished what I want to do in tennis yet.”

As Tiafoe continues to build on an already rock solid foundation, his potential has not gone unnoticed.

Frances On Song
“One of the first things you see in Frances when you meet him is his true passion for the game,” Frances’ agent Wajid Sayed, of Roc Nation Sports, told ATPWorldTour.com. “Anyone who is passionate about what they undertake provides a good road map for success. His back story is quite compelling and Jay-Z and Roc Nation thought that was great, but first and foremost he has a long way to actualise the potential with his tennis development. It’s all about seeing how we can foster that and put him in the best position to compete on the court.”

Signing with the Jay-Z founded sports management agency Roc Nation Sports is akin to being invited to the most exclusive club. You have to earn it. Most importantly, you need to make a significant impression to receive the honour of representation.

Surrounded by his own entourage of friends and family, Tiafoe first metTiafoe Jay-Z backstage at a concert in Baltimore where the pitch was made. His captivating backstory and drive to become the next great American icon struck a chord with the entertainment and fashion mogul, and early last month the rising star became the first tennis player to sign with Roc Nation Sports. Tiafoe turned pro on 6 April, joining such sporting superstars as the NBA’s Kevin Durant, baseball player Robinson Cano and Dez Bryant of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. He believes it was the right fit.

“Roc Nation approached me after the French Open (last year),” Tiafoe said. “They’re great at getting top dollar and it allows me to focus on being the best I can be. It’s definitely the right fit for me. It’s a step in the right direction.”

“With our initial goals, when we determined where we want to be and set benchmarks it was Top 200 (in the Emirates ATP Rankings) by the end of the season,” Sayed added. “Obviously he’s on an accelerated path right now but it’s important for us to not get ahead of ourselves and take it one step at a time. Hopefully he’ll have a long career and how he gets to that No. 1 spot is going to be coming from within and his own personal ambition and drive. It’s going to be exciting for me, Jay-Z and Roc Nation to be a part of.”

The Big Jump
Tiafoe has backed up the hype on the court, asserting himself on the Emirates ATP Rankings this year. His ascent has been nothing short of mesmerising. The youngest boys’ champion in Orange Bowl history, at age 15 in 2013, Tiafoe was a heralded junior player, also conquering the prestigious Les Petits As in 2012, and his initial success would translate well to the senior circuit.

Sitting outside the Top 1,000 to open his 2015 campaign, at No. 1,145, Tiafoe proceeded to reach a trio of finals on the ITF Futures circuit, including a maiden crown in Bakersfield, California. World No. 1,145 soon became No. 798 and it would continue soaring with a slew of breakthroughs on the ATP Challenger Tour. He would climb to No. 450 with a run to the quarter-finals in Sarasota, No. 381 after a semi-final finish Savannah and a current career-high No. 291 with a first final in Tallahassee – the seminal moment of his young career.

“It was pretty intense,” Tiafoe reflected. “A lot of hours spent on court. The crowds were unbelievable. In Tallahassee, there were about 500 people there every time I played. The (ATP Challenger Tour) tournaments were great, the staff was great and that’s probably where I’ve had the most fun.

“The matches could have gone either way and they were going my way. Those three weeks were the best three weeks I could have had. Hard work pays off and I’m playing the right way. I’m going to get my body back where it needs to be and get ready for what’s next. You never get satisfied and you have to keep going. I’m a big competitor, I definitely learned that.”

A rise of over 850 spots in just four months. And Tiafoe isn’t done just yet.

His strong performances in the USTA’s Har-Tru Wild Card Challenge granted him entry into his first Grand Slam main draw at Roland Garros this week. It’s apropos that the Maryland native’s first major would be in the French capital, having practised with nine-time champion Rafael Nadal at last year’s tournament. He opens against World No. 35 Martin Klizan and is eager to hit the terre battue.

“I’m looking forward to playing against a Top 100 player at the French Open. It’s a Grand Slam and it’s something you dream about as a little kid, playing in the main draw of a Slam.”

Having made his ATP World Tour debut last year in his home tournament – the Citi Open – Tiafoe contested his first clay-court event last week in Nice. A lucky loser entrant, he would take a set from Australia’s James Duckworth before eventually falling 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2, but the gritty performance drew high praise from his Top 100 opponent.

Watch Citi Open Hot Shot


“I think he has a really good game,” Duckworth told ATPWorldTour.com. “He's real powerful off that forehand and moves great. I think he's got a lot of talent. He has a couple of years of getting some work into his body and to develop a little more physically, but he's someone who can get into the Top 100 and push on to bigger and better things.”

The Path To Greatness
Tiafoe has rubbed shoulders with Jay-Z, hit with actor Kevin Spacey (pictured left, with WTA player Alison Tiafoe, SpaceyRiske) and was invited for a VIP meet-and-greet with NBA superstar Paul Pierce following a Washington Wizards playoff game earlier this month. He has played a junior exhibition under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden on World Tennis Day, preceding a clash between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Tiafoe has become a baby-faced tennis celebrity, but with the increased attention comes added responsibility and an accelerated maturation process. The 17 year old is quick to acknowledge that his desire has not abated and he is taking it one step at a time, including finishing high school next year and taking college courses online.

While JTCC coaches Misha Kouznetsov and Frank Salazar have been guiding figures for Tiafoe in constructing a strong foundation, former World No. 6 and 16-time ATP World Tour champion Jose Higueras has recently taken the reigns.

“It will be a fun process to see him grow and develop his game,” said Higueras. "He’s on the right path to becoming a great player… We need to create a competitive environment and keep him grounded.”

Higueras coached Michael Chang when the 17 year old won Roland Garros in 1989, becoming the youngest Grand Slam champion in history. This year, he returns with another 17 year old protégé – the second-youngest American player in tournament history behind only Chang. But Higueras says that’s where the similarities end.

“They played in different times. The depth of the game is much stronger now. They have completely different styles of play. Michael was a counter-puncher, a very smart guy on the court. He was an adult at 17. He was extremely focused and very mature. He wasn’t your typical 17 year old.

“Frances is a very good athlete that modern sport is looking for. We don’t get too many of those in tennis. He’s a powerful player. He’s going to (dictate play) with his forehand. With time, he has the chance to be a top player. The difference is, there is a lot of work to do. I normally go step by step with the younger players. We’ve been focusing on his volleys quite a bit and on his backhand slice quite a bit.

“He’s got a very good foundation, but there is still much to improve,” added Higueras. “You have Roger or Rafa or any of those guys, even with all they’ve accomplished, they still look forward to what they can do. That’s the idea for me from the beginning.”

Tiafoe will make his Grand Slam debut Monday against Klizan. He admits that while clinching a spot in his first major is a significant milestone, it’s just one of many firsts on the road to the pinnacle of the sport – World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

“I’ll take it one tournament at a time and not get too far ahead of myself. I’m going to take this opportunity and use it.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... iafoe.aspx

[bogdan1978]

25.05.2015

Najwyższy ranking w karierze: 287

[Lucas]

Tiafoe manages to smile after quick loss in Grand Slam debut

Spoiler:

The 17-year-old lost to Martin Klizan, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. (AP)

PARIS (AP) As the first 17-year-old American man in the French Open since Michael Chang won the 1989 title, Frances Tiafoe learned a valuable lesson from a straight-set loss in his Grand Slam debut.

''I need,'' Tiafoe said with a chuckle, ''to get a lot better.''

Tiafoe, from College Park, Maryland, earned a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association for the main draw at Roland Garros, a year after playing in the junior tournament in Paris. On tiny Court 5 - with a seating capacity of 379, and no television coverage - Tiafoe went out quickly Monday, beaten 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 by 36th-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

''In juniors, like, a lot of people were looking up to me last year, when I was the (No. 1) seed. Now I'm looking up to everyone here,'' Tiafoe said. ''It was definitely a lot different. But, I mean, I've got to get used to it, I guess.''

Other than when Tiafoe grabbed a short-lived 3-0 lead in the third set, things did not go his way against Klizan. During the first set, Tiafoe threw his racket.

''I'm still young,'' he said. ''I still show emotions a lot when I'm out there.''

If he was feeling down about the result, he didn't let on afterward, smiling and laughing at various moments during his news conference. His eyes lit up when he spoke about ''seeing the greats in the locker room.''

Tiafoe turned pro last month and is represented by Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports. He recently changed coaches, teaming with the USTA's Jose Higueras.

Asked which part of his game he'd like work on the most, Tiafoe replied, ''Everything can get better,'' before mentioning his serve and volleys.

''I saw him playing for the first time in my life, so I can't say what's going to be his future,'' Klizan said. ''If he works hard, then he can be good. But I can't say if he's going to be top 10 or top 100. Nobody knows.''

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/05/ ... WWwJlKfZfB

[bogdan1978]

15.06.2015

Najwyższy ranking w karierze: 286

[grzes430]

20.07.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 284

[grzes430]

[Barty]

Frances Tiafoe: Learning From The Best

Spoiler:

In learning from the best, Frances Tiafoe continues to educate himself as a tennis player. This week, the 17-year-old American competes at the BB & T Atlanta Open

At an age when most kids have traded the pacifier for a rattle, Frances Tiafoe is sitting courtside, racquet in his hand watching coach Frank Salazar teach tennis.

“Frances would have been about three or four years old back then,” remembers Salazar, the Senior Director at the Junior Training Champions Center in College Park, Maryland. “He would sit on the bench, feet dangling and watch me train Denis [Kudla], Mitchell [Frank] and Junior [Ore] never taking his eyes off what they were doing. Then, he would try and mimic them with his racquet.”

By all accounts, the young Tiafoe was something of a court rat. If he was not watching the older boys playing, he could be found out on the back courts playing mini tennis or hitting against the wall.

“Frances probably accumulated more court time over the years at the center than all the other kids combined,” claims Salazar. “I believe that tennis came naturally to him because he felt comfortable with the environment he was in. Starting so young, with a racquet in his hand, he developed a strong skill set and a very high tennis I.Q. He would play from sunrise until sunset. Training would be over and he would still play. He was always experimenting against the wall and trying to learn the different shots to master.”

By now the basics of Tiafoe’s story are well known. His father and mother emigrated from Sierra Leone. Frances Sr. worked on a construction project and later as head of maintenance at the Junior Tennis Champion Center in College Park, Maryland. Mother, Alphina, was a nurse. Much of the week, but not all the time, Frances and twin brother, Franklin, lived out of the tennis center maintenance room as their father was often needed around the clock.

Tiafoe’s story is an excellent case study of what happens when ability and desire meets opportunity. But talented kids who have wasted opportunities are all too common in the United States of America.

The how and why of how the Tiafoe family got it right is a testament to their trust in the unshakeable ethos by the senior staff at the JTCC where ‘nothing is given, unless it is earned’. The message at the JTCC is loud and clear; effort and character are what matters most, not results. Under the umbrella of the JTCC, Frances Tiafoe Jr. shined.

“First, and above of all, he is a great kid who has this great smile,” says Vesa Ponkka, the Senior Director of Tennis at the JTCC. “People around the center felt that here was a kid who has a need, but just as importantly, was willing to work for whatever help he got. When Frances has to give a thank you speech someday it will probably sound like he is reading from a telephone book. A lot of people believed in him and helped him: teachers, tutors and members of the center. I believe that says a lot about the kind of kid Frances is that so many people were willing to lend him a hand.”

Chuck Kriese served as Director of Competition at the JTCC and he saw Tiafoe every day for over three years.

“A lot of the credit for Frances goes to Vesa Ponkka and Frank Salazar,” Kriese states. “Vesa showed a masterful management of a special kid. There were so many little things that he did like not allowing Frances to have all his sponsor clothes at one time. His tennis clothes were rationed out based on need, the shoes had to have holes in the soles and the shirts faded. Vesa molded Frances’s will without breaking his spirit. And Frank (Salazar) instilled the meat and potatoes fundamentals into Frances’s game and the warrior spirit. A bit like what Dean Smith did with Michael Jordan. Yes, other coaches were also important. Mischa Kouznetzov put a lot of heart and time into Frances and was a great mentor.”

“I will always be grateful to so many persons at the JTCC,” Tiafoe tells ATPWorldTour.com. “And to Mischa. He helped me in so many ways when I was growing up.”

Still, for all the fundamentals, help and all the managerial parameters, it was what Tiafoe did when he was unsupervised that contributed too. The staff at JTCC believe that it was all the make-up games, mini tennis and hitting against the wall that allowed Tiafoe to develop his ability to read the game.

“Frances had just as many hours of unstructured hitting as he did with supervised drills,” says Ponkka. “You could put Frances on the back courts with any of the kids regardless of their ability or age and he would go with a smile. If he were left alone he might change the drill and create his own game where score was kept, but he gave the same effort with whomever he played with.”

“He was the king of those kid games that were first fun and second where he could use his ability to see angles and gaps,” says Kriese. “Frances Tiafoe is the ultimate gamer.

“He [Tiafoe] learned to construct points. He sees the court like a chessboard. He plays the point three or four moves ahead of his opponent. In America, probably because kids grow up on hard courts, ball striking and brute force will take them to a certain level and you can bang your way out of trouble. But Frances is different, he reads the game. From an early age he has always been a thinker first, a striker second.

“There was this kid at the center, Yancy Dennis. He and Frances were best friends growing up. They were always together and I don’t know how many sets they played against each other over the years. Yancy was another contributing factor to Frances’s success because he was always nudging Frances to do the next right thing.”

Nathan Thompson was one of the original kids at the JTCC when it opened its doors in 1999. A native of Baltimore he would often go back there to train when he was not on the tennis tour. Thompson earned the nickname, ‘Maximus’, from his peers because of his physique. Later, he would travel as a coach with Tiafoe.

“I took him to a few low level ITF junior tournaments when he was younger,” recalls Thompson. “Frances was always trying to bail on the stretching and fitness. He was a bit of a social butterfly back then and if it was not fun, he was not up for it. He was a real sanguine personality. Maybe even super-sanguine. Once, we were in Florida when he was like 13 years old, he gave me some lip and I had to get in his kitchen and jack him up a bit. I was expecting him to back down and say, ‘Sorry, coach’. But no, he bowed up, got real quiet and snarled. I was like, ‘Damn, little dude is about to go feral.’ Fearless, that is what I remember most about Frances Tiafoe.”

“The kid has a tool box loaded with intangibles,” claims Ponkka. “But the first thing that comes to mind is that Frances is fearless beyond control.”

In Australia, they would say that Tiafoe has a bit of the mongrel in him. They said the same about Lleyton Hewitt.

According to Salazar, there were a couple of defining moments in Tiafoe’s junior development that have served him well today.

“After he won La Petit As de Tarbs [in 2012] it was clear that he needed to change his forehand to improve and be able to play at a higher level,” says Salazar. “He bought into it and made a change. He was pulled out of tournaments for four months to change his swing path and make a huge technical change. His game blossomed and began to take off over time. Another major change was after losing in the 2014 US Open junior semi-finals was his serve. He knew his serve wouldn't hold up to playing the best players in the world. We totally reconstructed his serve and took him out of tournaments for three-and-a-half months. Again, he bought into the change.”

Tiafoe’s birth certificate states he is 17 years old and technically, still a boy. But take a good look at his body in the locker room and you will see that he packs a pair of man-sized shoulders that looks like he has been rocking a jackhammer instead of a tennis racquet. His torso is rock hard up front and deep cut in the back, while his glutes are pronounced and look like they have been grafted off a stud racehorse. No doubt Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian Man’ would nod in approval.

Legendary strength and conditioning coach, Pat Etcheberry, has been leading the team regarding Tiafoe’s physical development for the past couple of years.

“He [Tiafoe] is someone who you need to tell him what to do,” says Etcheberry. “But Pete [Sampras] and Andre [Agassi] were the same breed. Everything that I have asked him to do, he does, but you have to be right there. I tell Frances, ‘If you like winning, then do this and if you like losing, then don’t do this’. He does not have to be told twice, but he does need someone there. Basically, if you sit down with Frances and explain to him what it takes, he will do it.”

As Tiafoe’s physique began to develop so did his ball striking get bigger, heavier and full of spin. American tennis is used to big forehands; [Jimmy] Arias, [Aaron] Krickstein, [Andre] Agassi, [Andy] Roddick and Jack Sock all come to mind. Tiafoe’s drive is not that far behind. He has a windmill wind-up which looks more like a roundhouse right than a tennis stroke. And when he gets his feet set in a semi-open stance he can back a man to the bushes. However, and this is where it gets interesting, Tiafoe has the ability to throttle down and throw out an off-speed inside-out knuckle ball which barely clears the net whilst creating a shocking angle. At first glance it looks like a mis-hit, but make no mistake, that stroke is by design. It is Tiafoe’s joker in the deck.

Tiafoe gets a lot of pop out of a little effort on his serve. He uses the old Ed Krass B.E.S.T (Biomechanically Efficient Service Technique) service motion much like Jay Berger, Roddick and Gael Monfils. It is a technique that Krass designed back in the late 1980s. Simply, the hands do not drop like a pendulum, but rather the arm lifts while the palm stays down much like a quarterback throwing a football. It is a simple technique. However, in order to get big power, the player needs to be a gifted athlete.

This past spring, the USTA dangled a carrot for the American tennis player that had the best combined results in the US clay-court circuit of ATP Challenger Tour events in Sarasota, Savannah and Tallahassee. The prize was a main draw wild card into 2015 Roland Garros. This was all the opportunity that Tiafoe needed. He had to work hard for it and in the end he earned his spot in the draw. Hard work is something that the senior staff of the JTCC in College Park, Maryland had instilled in him since day one.

It is late in the day on centre court at the ATP Nice Cote d’Azur and John Isner is locked into a second-round battle with Steve Johnson. Cutting a lonely figure in the front row of the south side stands is Tiafoe sitting with his elbows propped on his knees and his chin resting on his palms. It is not known what thoughts are passing in the young man’s mind, but he appears lost in thought. A lot has changed in Tiafoe’s life lately. A deal with JayZ’s RocNation Sports Agency and a new cast of coaches to name a few. However, one thing that remains the same is that Tiafoe is still courtside watching the older boys play tennis.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/atl ... ure-tiafoe

[grzes430]

10.08.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 272

[grzes430]

17.08.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 271

[Lucas]

ATP Winston-Salem '15: pierwszy wygrany mecz na szczeblu ATP.

[Q] Frances Tiafoe (USA) d. James Duckworth (AUS) 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(3)

[Lucas]

Tiafoe Notches First ATP Win

Spoiler:

Teens advance in Winston-Salem
American young gun Frances Tiafoe made a significant statement on Monday at the Winston-Salem Open, storming back from 1-4 down in the third set to defeat James Duckworth 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(3).
The 17 year old notched his first match win on the ATP World Tour in his fifth attempt. He avenged a loss to Duckworth earlier this year in Nice, firing 20 aces and saving seven of nine break points.

"He was serving really well in the first set," said Tiafoe. "He was bombing away and I was already focused on the second set. I came back and started competing really well, dictating and getting the crowd into it... There's no reason to stop fighting. I'm a very good competitor. I just keep competing, keeping the points longer and keeping the balls deeper.

"I'm really happy about getting my first ATP win, but I'm more focused on getting my body ready for tomorrow. Just because I have one win doesn't mean I stop now. I want to keep going."

It was the third match win by a 17 year old this year on the ATP World Tour, along with Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev. Tiafoe has won four matches in just three days after battling through qualifying, capped by a three-set comeback win against countryman Ryan Harrison to book his spot in the main draw. The American will next face Thomaz Bellucci in the second round.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/win ... akis-coric

[robpal]

253. jest w wirtualnym rankingu.

[grzes430]

31.08.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 257

[bogdan1978]

14.09.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 253

[bogdan1978]

19.10.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 228

[bogdan1978]

26.10.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 226

[Lucas]

09.11.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 221

[Alan]

Wydaje się, że ma wszelkie dane by pójść drogą Younga