As Frances Tiafoe hopes to return to the semifinals of the US Open, the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium will definitely be cheering him on.
“New York – that’s different,” said Tiafoe Terms and Conditions in 2022. “The night on Ashe is so special, I don’t think words can describe what it means to me to play the night on Ashe. It’s the biggest tennis court, the atmosphere is wild and it’s for people like me. I really take that in.”
In particular, his family and team will be supporting him and sitting in his box. As Tiafoe prepares for one of the biggest night games of his career, here’s who’s who in Tiafoe’s box.
His trainer, David Witt
Tiafoe’s coach, David Witt.
Witt, Venus Williams’ former coach, began training Tiafoe this summer. “He’s the man,” Tiafoe said of Witt in July. “I called him right after I played at Wimbledon and said, ‘Brother, you want to do something? You’re a free agent right now and so am I. So let’s do something; let’s try to build a good partnership. Obviously, he’s gotten along really well with Venus (Williams) and Jess (Pegula); some incredible years with (them). I’ve been trying to find a coach for a while and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. He’s super laid back and so am I. So I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ And it’s worked out well. So far he’s got one win with me, so it’s good.”
His parents, Alphina and Frances Tiafoe, Sr.
The Tiafoes, September 2022.
Tiafoe’s parents are both immigrants from Sierra Leone who fled civil war there in the 1990s. When they arrived in the U.S., his father got a job as a construction worker building the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, Maryland. He was then hired as a local janitor and given a small office at the JTCC – and he brought his twin sons with him.
“My father literally helped build the house,” says Tiafoe Terms and Conditions“He asked the CEO of (JTCC), ‘Can my twins come here so they can have a better school environment?’ In the beginning, it was good for us to be there, to be in a good school environment and to be surrounded by other kids while he was working. Then, of course, we turned to tennis since we were so busy with it.”
His girlfriend Ayan Broomfield
Ayan in NYC, August 2024.
Broomfield, a former college tennis player, has been dating Tiafoe since 2015. She always cheers him on in his box and was caught on camera at this US Open:
“I’m sitting next to his mother, we’re both quite a mess in the box and we feed each other,” says Broomfield Terms and Conditions. “It’s not good. We’ll be kicking each other, holding hands and doing our best. But it’s nice to be around other people – everyone wants him to win as much as I do.”
His twin brother Franklin Tiafoe
Franklin Tiafoe in 2023.
Tiafoe’s twin brother Franklin is a former tennis player who now works as a coach. He often supports his brother at matches.
His fitness coach, TC Costello
Costello met Tiafoe at JTCC, where he works as senior director of fitness. Costello now works as his strength and conditioning coach. Is there a “magic drill” in Tiafoe’s training program? No, Costello told the WashingtonPostIt is simply “do everything with 100 percent effort, be it warming up, be it cooling down, be it working on injury prevention, little exercises to keep the shoulder healthy, do it all with 100 percent effort and do it consistently.”
His friend and training partner Jordi Arconada
Arconada, another professional tennis player, works with Tiafoe and his team, sitting in his box. Here’s a snapshot of Tiafoe’s team that Arconada posted earlier this summer:
His physical therapist, Bret Waltz
Waltz has been dating Tiafoe for some time now. On Instagram, he is described as a “concierge physical therapist, strength and conditioning coach.”
Walz can be seen on the right in the Instagram above.
His agent Jill Smoller
Jill Smoller.
Smoller, whose most famous client is Serena Williams, has represented Tiafoe since April 2022 and is often in her box. (Smoller is also a close friend of Meghan Markle and is part of her team at WME.)
His childhood friend, Hailey Baptiste
Hailey Baptiste.
During the round of 16, Hailey Baptiste, another tennis player, was seen in his box. Like Tiafoe, Baptiste is from the Washington, DC area and they trained together at the JTCC. Tiafoe calls her his “little sister.”
Kenny Jones
Another player on Tiafoe’s team is Jones, who is responsible for his protection. He sometimes sits in the box, but usually not.
Jack Paul McClinton III
Former basketball player McClinton is also part of Tiafoe’s team, although his exact role is unclear. However, he regularly sits in his box.
Prominent guest
Boris Kodjoe in Frances Tiafoe’s player box, August 30.
Sometimes a famous face appears in Tiafoe’s box, like Boris Kodjoe, who was there last weekend at the Open.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the senior news editor of Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals and a variety of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was deputy editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture website. Follow her at @emburack on Þjórsárdalur and Instagram.
