Frances Tiafoe on his 2022 US Open run: The best thing honestly in sports is diversity, a lot of you became tennis fans

American tennis sensation Frances Tiafoe recently shared how his life changed after his performance at the 2022 US Open.

Tiafoe had a fairytale run at Flushing Meadows this year. He overcame Marcos Giron, Jason Kubler, and Diego Schwartzman in the first three rounds to set up a fourth-round meeting with Rafael Nadal. It was then that the American delivered his best effort, defeating the Spaniard.

He then met Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals and defeated the Russian in straight sets. However, his run was cut short at the hands of World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.

Frances Tiafoe reflected on how his life changed after the 2022 US Open in an interview with Jill Craybas on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast, stating that it was "really cool" to see people who were not really into tennis become fans after watching him play.

"Yes, It changed for me a lot. I think the best thing, honestly in sports is diversity in sports. During that time there were a lot of you that really didn't like tennis and became tennis fans, it was really cool. I was hanging out with people, I never thought I'd be hanging out, going to events, and sitting next to the people I never thought I'd be sitting next to, and then they were actually excited to meet me. And that was weird," Tiafoe said.

However, he noted that his parents and everyone around him advised him to remain focused on his game.

"You know my parents and everyone around me was like keep the main thing to the main thing cause none of this would keep happening unless you keep winning tennis matches so it's cool to see small bit of what could happen if you really do the job," Tiafoe added.

---

"It built that little extra hunger" - Frances Tiafoe on why losing in the US Open semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz was a good thing

Frances Tiafoe and Carlos Alcaraz pictured hugging at the 2022 US Open.

Frances Tiafoe went on to reflect on his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 US Open semifinals. He stated that it was difficult for him at first since he thought he could have won. However, he soon realized that the defeat served to increase his hunger heading into the 2023 season.

"I played one of the best matches ever against Alcaraz. We both left it all out there. I downed match points; I gave everything I had. It was tough cause I thought I was gonna get it done, but I think it was the best thing for me not to win it honestly," the American said.

"Because seeing how everyone responded and all the things I got invited to and I didn’t win it, it built that little extra hunger, cause I didn't do it so 2023 that’s the goal, to get across that line," he added.