Frances Tiafoe defeated Rafael Nadal in the 2022 US Open round of 16 match on Monday. The American won  6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. He will now face No 9 seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal on Wednesday.

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The win against Nadal is Tiafoe’s biggest since turning professional. He is 24 years old and has become the youngest American man to get that far at the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006. 

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Tiafoe served better than No. 2 seed Nadal. More surprisingly, he returned better, too. And he kept his cool, remained in the moment and never let the stakes or the opponent get to him. The 36-year-old from Spain had won both of their previous matches, and every set they played, too.

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“I don’t even know what to say right now. I’m beyond happy. I can’t believe it. He’s one of the greatest of all time. I played unbelievable tennis today, but I don’t even know what happened,” Tiafoe said. 

He thanked his parents and supporters. 

Who are Constant, known as Frances Sr Tiafoe and Alphina Kamara, Frances Tiafoe’s parents? 

Frances Sr Tiafoe and Alphina Kamara are Frances Tiafoe’s parents. The two are Sierra Leonean immigrants. 

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The American player’s father worked as the head of maintainance at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in Maryland.

Prior to that, Constant was working in diamond mines in his native Sierra Leone before managing to escape.

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The little known about Frances’ mother Alphina is that she won a green card lottery to live in the US when millions applied.

Frances Tiafoe also has a twin brother – Franklin. 

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Sharing his parents’ journey on BBC, Frances had said: “It humbled me and made me serious. It came into my head pretty quick to use tennis as a way to help not only myself but our family because they have sacrificed so much.”