When Frances Tiafoe first began his professional career, Washington Wizards General Manager Tommy Shepard invited him into the NBA team’s locker room after a game. Tiafoe introduced himself to several players in the room, including star Bradley Beal, who is now a three-time NBA All Star.
“I’ve always kept track with him ever since then and just been happy with his success and he’s continued to come to games and shown his support,” Beal told ATPTour.com. “It’s kind of crazy to see the success he’s had and seen his journey and being a guy from D.C., that’s even [made it] much bigger.”
Beal has tried to show his own support for Tiafoe at this US Open, where he has been traveling back and forth from Washington to New York while he prepares for his season to watch Tiafoe compete in the US Open. The 29-year-old has watched his friend defeat 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal and ninth seed Andrey Rublev.
“That’s just kind of how D.C. is. D.C. athletes, we have that special relationship with each other. We always reach out to each other and check in. We support one another. We understand this is a true sports town and so we try to support each other’s teams and each other’s endeavours whether it’s on or off the field or court or whatever it is that we do,” Beal said. “It’s always love shown. It’s no different than that. He’s always been awesome in that regard. He’s always shown love to me, to what we’ve done and has always shown his support so this is me kind of paying it back to him.”
Cameras have caught Beal getting out of his chair after big points to support Tiafoe as he has battled into his first Grand Slam semi-final. He has appreciated the energy the 22nd seed has brought to the court, which has earned Tiafoe the full backing of the New York crowd.
.@RealDealBeal23 is loving every minute of this match.@FTiafoe | @WashWizards | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/bp32cWxsge
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2022
“He’s hungry. I think people gravitate towards him because of his passion. It’s all genuine love and just his true character. He doesn’t force anything, it’s just who he is,” Beal said. “He always has a smile on his face, he’s always positive. He’s always encouraging. That’s always someone you want to surround yourself with. He’s kind of a magnet to a lot of people.
“And then his play, he plays with such grace and passion and everybody feeds off of that. He’s a…
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