Frances Tiafoe shares Serena Williams’ US Open message that made him feel elated

Frances Tiafoe didn’t hide his happiness and excitement over Serena Williams finding some time to meet at the US Open as the 26-year-old made sure to let the American tennis icon how much her actions meant to him.

On Saturday, the former 23-time Grand Slam champion showed up at Flushing Meadows and it created a buzz among the fans but also players since many from the current generation grew up watching and idolizing her.

One of those players is world No. 20 Tiafoe, who met the 42-year-old before his round-of-16 match against Alexei Popyrin. During their meeting, Williams decided to give a little pep talk to the 2022 US Open semifinalist but also applaud him for being a good role model for Black kids.

And to hear that from one of the greatest players of all time, it pretty much felt surreal to the 26-year-old American.

“It’s crazy seeing her not playing. It’s still wild. But I mean, you know, for her wanting to come out and talk to me before the match, telling me she’s always following no matter what, telling me ‘it’s so good to see now that I’m done, you’re the guy of color playing and doing well.’ I’m, like, coming from her, that’s a loud sentence. I’m, like, ‘damn.’ That’s really, really cool that she sees me as that,” Tiafoe said.

“Her telling me she just wants nothing but the best for me, giving me some game right before the match, how are you feeling, where you at? It’s so funny her asking me that. I’m like nervous to respond. She’s not someone you’re going to (expletive) and say, like… She’s not trying to hear that.

“Yeah, I was just like – you know, it’s between us. Whatever, our conversation is between us, but it was really cool to have her want to talk to me before a match and really say she wants me to do this thing and that I’m capable of doing it. It coming from her, I mean, it’s just so loud. I don’t think it will hit me like that if anybody else said it to me.”

Tiafoe: I watched the Williams sisters, Roger Federer… Dreamed about this

After getting some advice from Williams, the No. 20 seed went to the court and beat Popyrin 6-4 7-6 (3) 2-6 6-3 – the Australian who made a big upset in the third round when he sent defending champion Novak Djokovic packing.

By overcoming Djokovic’s conqueror, the American reached his third consecutive US Open quarterfinal. Previously, Tiafoe made his maiden Grand Slam semifinal at Flushing Meadows in 2022 while he exited in the last-eight in 2023.

Heading into his quarterfinal match against Grigor Dimitrov, the 26-year-old hopes to continue his run and potentially join some big names on the winners list.

“I always dreamt about playing on this court… as a kid I used to hit against the wall and wanted to compete on this court. Seeing the Williams sisters win titles here. Seeing Roger win here a million times. I was like ‘I just want to go out on this court’. It’s so iconic. It’s named after Arthur Ashe. I wanted to be a part of that. It brings out the best in me,” Tiafoe said on the court.

Tiafoe and Dimitrov are both good with Williams

For many years, Dimitrov and the American tennis icon have been good friends. And her visit to the US Open could not have gone without also meeting the Bulgarian.

And after the former world No. 3 claimed a five-set win over Andrey Rublev to book a quarterfinal spot, he gave credit to the former six-time US Open champion.

“For some reason not in front of her. She gave me a good pep talk yesterday. Yeah, I know exactly, I’m thrilled it’s amazing to play again in front of you guys, in front of friends and family. So all in all, it’s a tremendous atmosphere, here so thank you for the support,” Dimitrov said.

When the American and the 33-year-old Bulgarian clash against each other in New York, it will be their fifth meeting. Going into the match, Dimitrov owns a 3-1 head-to-head record but it should be noted that three of their first four meetings came between 2018 and 2019, while their last matchup was won by the Bulgarian on the grass courts of Wimbledon last year.