Frances Tiafoe has become the first American to reach the US Open semifinals since 2006. He beat 9th seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 behind the backing of a boisterous crowd on Wednesday.

“I love to show the world what I can do,” said the 24-year-old Tiafoe, who is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows. “I just want to go out there and try to give the crowd what they want — and that’s me getting the win.”

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Who is Frances Tiafoe?

Born in Hyattsville, Maryland, Frances Tiafoe is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows and reached the second major quarterfinal of his career.

Tiafoe is 24 years old. He is the son of Sierra Leonean immigrants. His father worked as the head of maintainance at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in Maryland. 

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Frances Tiafoe was 15 years old when he won the 2013 Orange Bowl. He became the tournament’s youngest-ever boys’ singles champion. Two years later, he became the youngest American in the main draw of the French Open since Michael Chang in 1989.

Tiafoe won the US Junior National Championship. He has reached nine finals and won four ATP Challenger Tour titles over the years. 

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Tiafoe broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings in 2016. At the 2019 Australian Open, he reached the quarterfinals.

“When I first came on the scene, a lot of people had limitations on what I would do. … I wasn’t ‘ready for it mentally.’ I wasn’t ‘mature,’” Tiafoe said. But these days, he added, “I’m able to just do me and do it my way and enjoy the game I love.”