Former ATP Star Sings Praises of American Sensation Francis Tiafoe Ahead of His Dallas Open Class

American tennis star, Frances Tiafoe is one of the most popular sporting stars back home. While he never fails to entertain the audience while on court, the 26-year-old also has quite an eventful off-court life. He often shares glimpses of his personal life with his fans through social media. Recently, the World Number 14 performed a kind deed that was praised by former tennis star, Mark Petchey.

Tiafoe is in his native country where he’s participating at the Dallas Open. He is the top seed there and was handed a bye in the opening round. Let’s find out what he did that won praise from Petchey.

Mark Petchey is all praise of Frances Tiafoe

Ahead of his Dallas Open appearance, Tiafoe took part in a tennis clinic for kids. He gave some precious advice to them on how to improve their game. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these kids, who clearly had a gala time. Petchey was impressed by this gesture from Tiafoe.

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Recently, the former tennis star was involved in the Tennis Channel Live Podcast where he talked about Tiafoe’s kind deed. He said, “These sort of things, that you look at one of the kids in ten years time, they say I have met Frances, I was on the court with him, you know, inspired me to stay in tennis and everything else.”

Further, he went on to add, “Frances may be doing this to make a little bit of money but I see this as the most valuable thing that a kid would take away, face time with Frances Tiafoe, that would be a memory for the lifetime.”

Meanwhile, Tiafoe himself received motivation from his parents to pursue tennis. He once revealed how they pushed him to excel in this sport.

Tiafoe makes a candid revelation

The American star has worked hard to rise up the ranks in the tennis world. He came from a humble background and strived for greatness with dedication and his parents’ support.

Talking about how his parents pushed him towards greatness, Tiafoe said, “My parents were like, it’s good to get these guys out of this area. You know, get them out the hood, whatever, so they ain’t doing dumb sh*t. And yeah, and we just fell in love with tennis. They didn’t push on us at all. It was just like, Yo, you got this opportunity if you want to do it.”

Tiafoe opens his campaign at the Dallas Open later today. He’ll face his compatriot, Alex Michelsen, in the second round. It’ll be interesting to see if Tiafoe can live up to his top seeding and the favorite’s tag at the Dallas Open.

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