Frances Tiafoe is continuing to give back to the people and places that made him who he is today. The 2022 US Open semifinalist returned home to College Park, Md. this week to present his hometown training center, the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., with a $50,000 check from his eponymous charitable fund with the USTA Foundation that will support JTCC programming.
For 25 years, JTCC has helped people of all ages, abilities and origins fall in love with the lifelong sport of tennis through its robust slate of activities, and today, it is one of the more than 250 National Junior Tennis and Learning chapters in the U.S. that provide free or low-cost tennis and education programming to under-resourced youth. Two decades ago, Tiafoe was one such youth when he first stepped on JTCC's courts at age 4, when his father was the club's head of maintenance after immigrating to the U.S. from Sierra Leone.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of everyone at JTCC,” Tiafoe said. “It means a lot to me to be able to pay it forward and help the next generation of kids have access to the same opportunities as I did."
Tiafoe's fund with the USTA Foundation launched last summer to support NJTL chapters like the one that raised him, and this year to date, he has supported the initiative through youth tennis clinics with local NJTLs at ATP events in Dallas and Houston.
"It’s an honor to have him return to the place where it all started and help us move our mission forward," JTCC CEO Ray Benton added, hailing Tiafoe as a "role model to kids everywhere."
“Frances has turned his success on the court into a platform for advocacy, passionately working to ensure that under-resourced youth have the opportunity to unlock their potential through tennis and education,” USTA Foundation CEO Ginny Ehrlich said.
His commitment to opening doors for the next generation reflects not only his exceptional character but also his belief in the transformative power of sport and learning.”