MD Tennis Star Frances Tiafoe Is 1st American Man To Play In U.S. Open Semifinal Since '06

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Hyattsville native Frances Tiafoe, 24, has become the first American man to make it to the U.S. Open semifinals since 2006. Tiafoe beat Andrey Rublev Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

"Man, man, this is wild. This is crazy. Had the biggest win of my life 24 hours ago. ... That's huge growth. It's tough to turn the page," Tiafoe told CBS News.

Tiafoe's first career Grand Slam semifinal will be played Friday against No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 Jannik Sinner. In Wednesday's match, Tiafoe won 31 of 41 points when he went to the net. Tiafoe is now 6-0 in tiebreakers at this U.S. Open.

The son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, Tiafoe grew up playing at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. His father was one of the laborers who built the facility and eventually became head custodian, converting an office into a home for him and his two sons.

"He would always go to the wall and start hitting," Tiafoe's former coach Komi Alki told CBS News. "Back then he doesn't know what he's doing. He just wants to have fun and hit tennis balls."

Michael Glass Jr., who tends bar in Riverdale, watched Tiafoe in Wednesday's match with pride. “He’s exemplifying the standard of what Prince George’s County is,” Glass told The Washington Post.

Players gathered at the Junior Tennis Champions Center as well to watch the academy’s famous alum play.

“There was so much desire and drive and hunger,” Misha Kouznetsov, Tiafoe’s former coach at JTTC, told the Post.