The Route 1 corridor’s very own tennis phenom Francis Tiafoe will play in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Friday, his highest-profile match yet.
The 24-year-old player’s wins earlier this week have already made him the first American man to reach the tournament’s semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2016 and the first Black American man to do so since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
At 7 p.m. Friday, September 9, he’ll face rising Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The winner will advance to the final.
His inspiring life story has already gotten renewed attention: In the late 1990s, his father, Frances Sr., helped build the 15-acre Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park near the Metro station, then got a maintenance job there. Tiafoe got his start at the center, a place where he essentially grew up, and still returns to train and coach.
Tiafoe’s wins have been hailed as the “feel-good story” of this year’s U.S. Open, and, if he wins the final, “movie material.” His success, meanwhile, has also brought new national attention to the JTCC, which was the subject of a recent New York Times profile.
The JTCC is holding a watch party at The Hall CP on Friday, September 9, beginning at 7 p.m., to cheer on Tiafoe.
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