It felt like a defining moment in the 24-year-old American’s career; a culmination of hard work and raw talent that has long been heralded as the potential future of men’s tennis in the country.
Now that Tiafoe has reached the semifinals by beating Andrey Rublev in straight sets on Wednesday, he has achieved a career-best Grand Slam result – a feat made all the more impressive given his humble beginnings.
The crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium reveled in the game of Tiafoe, the first black American to reach a US Open semifinal since Ashe in 1972. And in a match where he didn’t lose service against world No. 11, he couldn’t let her down.
“I feel so at home on pitches like this. This pitch is amazing. You guys are so far behind me, you know I want to play and do my best. I always find a way on this pitch somehow. I always try to play great tennis, and that was me,” he said in an on-court interview shortly after the math. Let’s enjoy this. We have two boys left. We’ve got two more.”
Tiafoe’s journey into tennis was by no means traditional.
Her father, Constant Tiafoe, started working at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Washington, DC in 1999 and eventually moved into one of the vacant storage rooms while he worked around the clock.
His two boys sometimes stayed with him and slept on a massage table while their mother worked night shifts as a nurse.
The unusual entry into the sport gave Tiafoe the opportunity to begin developing his skills, and once he began training at the facility he has not looked back.
He was asked on Wednesday what message he wanted people to take from his story.
“I mean, honestly, anyone can do it. Of course it’s a cliché, but I think when you’re really passionate about something… Everyone has a gift,” he said, adding that tennis is his passion and obsession.
Fueled by his parents’ work ethic, he won the prestigious Orange Bowl – one of the most prized junior tournaments in tennis – at age 15, becoming the youngest boys’ singles champion in the tournament’s history.
He joined a list of previous champions including Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.
It was a sign for the future.
Matured on tour
Tiafoe turned pro in 2015 and began to adapt to the rigors of the senior tour.
He broke into the top 100 in the world and started to assert himself in Grand Slams – at the Australian Open in 2019 he reached his first quarterfinal before losing to Nadal.
Three years later he found himself in another quarterfinal as world No. 26 on Wednesday, only this time he felt more ready to seize the opportunity.
“Honestly, when I first came on stage, I wasn’t mentally ready and mature enough,” he said on the pitch after beating Nadal. “I was able to develop further and I have a great team around me.
“I’m glad I won in front of my mum, dad, girlfriend and my team and that they see what I’ve done.”
As he solidifies as a contender on the court, Tiafoe also strives for social justice outside of the court.
In 2022, he told CNN Sport that the lack of diversity in sport made him feel like an “outsider,” and he vowed to keep fighting for equality while he still had the platform.
He created a protest video in 2022 to raise awareness of racial injustice after the death of George Floyd sparked protests around the world.
In collaboration with a variety of black players and coaches – such as Serena Williams and Coco Gauff – he released the video “Racquets down, hands up” on his social media channels.
His performances have even caught the eye of some of the biggest names in esports, with NBA star LeBron congratulating James Tiafoe on making it to the quarterfinals.
Make no mistake, however, this is not an overnight success story. It’s the result of thousands of hours of work and a no-no mentality.
But while the weight of a nation rests on his shoulders, Tiafoe has always focused only on making his parents proud.
“Since they were trying so hard, I felt like I didn’t want to let them down,” he told CNN Sport in 2015. “I felt like I didn’t want to take the possibilities for granted.”
On Wednesday, his coach Wayne Ferreira said Tiafoe’s story is footage but that he had to win the US Open or another Grand Slam event first.
“You only get films if you do well,” he said. “But his story is very unique and it’s a great story. And he’s very humble. He’s a very, very, very nice person. Very big heart and kind. You have to love him. He really is something special.”
CNN’s Jacob Lev, Steve Almasy, Jill Martin, Will Edmonds and Christina Macfarlane contributed coverage.