"Smooth" - Andy Roddick's wife Brooklyn Decker in awe of Frances Tiafoe 'repping' $3.3B NBA club in Charlotte Invitational
Frances Tiafoe took on Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition match at the Charlotte Invitational, a one-day exhibition event in Charlotte, North Carolina that featured two matches. During one of those matches, Tiafoe sported a Charlotte Hornets jersey, the NBA team from the city they played in.
Brooklyn Decker, a former model and, more notably for tennis fans, the wife of former World No. 1, Andy Roddick, posted about it on social media, praising Tiafoe for repping the basketball team's jersey. The Hornets are a $3.3 billion franchise and one of the 30 teams that are part of the National Basketball Association.
Her post wasn't by mistake or without reason, because Decker grew up in Charlotte even though she wasn't originally born there. She moved with her family during childhood and attended high school there. Going by how invested she is in the NBA, she is an ardent Hornets supporter and was happy to see 'Big Foe' represent her team in her hometown.
Tiafoe himself is a pretty big fan of the NBA and basketball in general, repping his hometown team, the Washington Wizards, more often than not. He's been spotted courtside a couple of times and is a friend of fellow Washington native, NBA superstar Kevin Durant.
Why did Frances Tiafoe choose to sign up for the Charlotte Invitational?
The Charlotte Invitational wasn't the first exhibition event staged in the US during this offseason because we actually saw one earlier which was attended by Carlos Alcaraz himself. He played against Ben Shelton in the famous Madison Square Garden indoor arena.
As for Frances Tiafoe, he has been pretty busy during the offseason as well, signing up for the Charlotte Invitational. However, Tiafoe's preference for this particular event would be down to its charitable nature.
The event was staged in support of tennis on the grassroots level, which has struggled in the USA in recent years, especially with the rise of pickleball, which invaded tennis spaces aggressively. As of late many courts have been converted to tend to pickleball. Given the USA's huge market potential, this has raised a fair share of eyebrows as a result.
To the delight of the numerous kids in attendance, a tennis court in Charlotte was reopened after being refurbished on the same day of their match. The ceremony was attended by American players Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, who also played an exhibition match later that day.
As for Tiafoe, he's been quite open about his love for young tennis fans, often going out of his way to sign memorabilia for them and launching the Frances Tiafoe Fund for kids in need last year.