Frances Tiafoe: "I do this for kids who ain't got a damn thing against all odds"
Frances Tiafoe expressed joy at his title win in Stuttgart and hoped that it would inspire kids to pursue their dreams.
Tiafoe defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the final at the BOSS Open on Sunday, June 18, to lift his third tour-level title. He saved one championship point in the two-hour, 12-minute encounter to win 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (8). Tiafoe had downed the likes of Jiri Lehecka, Lorenzo Musetti, and Marton Fucsovics in the previous rounds.
Struff looked like he was on his way to winning his maiden trophy on the tour, hitting 56 winners to Tiafoe's 36 and saving all three break points he faced. The American, however, dug deep in the third-set tie-break to emerge victorious.
With the win, Tiafoe made his top 10 debut in the ATP rankings on Monday, becoming the season's first player to make his maiden top 10 appearance.
Tiafoe later took to social media to state his delight. He thanked everyone who helped him on his journey so far and stated that kids can take inspiration from him in pursuing their dreams.
“What a week man. Title number 3 for the kid. With that now I’m top ten in the world. Achieving this on Juneteenth. SHEESH…. Can’t make this up. Just wanna S/O all my close Friends… Family… Mentors and anyone else who has helped me on this crazy thing we call life,” he said.
“This game is soo much bigger than me,” he added. “I do this for the last name not my first. I do this to inspire kids who look like me. I do this for kids who ain’t got a damn thing against all odds but get the last laugh in the end. All I gotta say to y’all if I can do it y’all can as well.”
Frances Tiafoe has always spoken about the importance of setting a good example for the younger generation. After winning the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in 2020, he had said:
“It’s about more than just setting up my family for life. What about those kids? I want to help them write their stories right the first time. If there are kids out there who do not think they can achieve their dreams, I want to change that.
“I really believe success is in everyone. I want to paint a picture for them that they did not know was possible. I want to help them make that a reality.”
Frances Tiafoe becomes third African-American to enter ATP top 10 in tennis history
Having entered Stuttgart as the World No. 12, the title run saw Frances Tiafoe rise two spots and break into the elite ATP top 10. He's only the third African-American man to reach the top 10, after Arthur Ashe and James Blake, and the first since Blake did so in 2009.
Blake, whose career-high was World No. 4, left the top 10 after the last week of January that year. This means it has been more than 5,200 days (14 and one-thirds of a year) since there was a black man in the top 10.
Frances Tiafoe is also the second American in the top 10 currently, after Taylor Fritz. They are the first American pair in the top 10 since Mardy Fish and John Isner in May 2012.