When they are Andre Agassi i Robi Djinepri In 2005, they played the last All-American Grand Slam semi-final to this day, little ones Frances Tiafoe together with his twin brother Franklin he lived in one of the offices of the tennis center in Maryland, a center in the construction of which his father participated.
A full 19 years later, Francis brought to the United States a new American duel for the Grand Slam final, as tomorrow he will collide with Taylor Fritz in the semifinals of the US Open.
A dream that began with a series of unreal circumstances in Maryland in recent years has come true - a boy whose parents immigrated to the United States fleeing the civil war in Sierra Leone has become a hero of New York.
During the nineties of the last century, Francis's father arrived in the United States of America, he could not choose a job, so he ended up working in construction, in the company that will soon be in charge of building the Junior tennis center... When the center was completed, Tijafo was a senior from company, he got a job as a janitor and an office where he could live.
As Francis and Franklin's mother worked night shifts as a nurse, the Tijafo brothers spent the next 11 years five days a week with their father in the now legendary office.
While many talented children trained at this center, the Tijafo boys fell in love with tennis, and since they already lived there, they wanted to try their hand at this sport. Of course, as its residents, the tennis center did not ask them to pay membership fees...
Everything after that is history, especially for Francis.
Five years ago, he played in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, only to turn the spotlight on himself in 2022, when he reached the semifinals of the US Open, and on the way eliminated the legend in the fourth round Rafael Nadal.
That's when his dream of a final in front of his audience was dashed Carlos Alcaraz, who reached the Grand Slam title for the first time in his career at that very tournament.
- Often my parents like to say how proud they are of me because of the sacrifice I made to be here, but the real heroes are them... They had to come to this country, my mother worked a lot, my father lived in an office - so many did for the two of us that it is impossible that we will ever be able to thank them. All I can do is return them with victories and that I never have an excuse not to fight - Tijafo once said.
Now, on the way to the final, across from him will be an easier rival, but also a guy he knows very well, a guy he used to hit the ball with during his junior days - Taylor Fritz.
Currently, the advantage in mutual duels is largely on the side of Fritz, as much as 6:1, and Tijafo has been waiting for a triumph since 2016, when Taylor was not even a shadow of today's player... However, it seems that the movie story of the "boy from the office" of this September could get another episode to remember.
America is waiting for the finalist - Tijafo or Fritz.
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