Broomfield: How US Open Completely Changed Tiafoe’s Life

One year ago, Frances Tiafoe enjoyed his breakthrough moment. Having never advanced past the fourth round at the US Open, the American rallied the support of the New York fans — and many throughout the world — to help push through to the semi-finals.

Tiafoe stunned Rafael Nadal and upset Andrey Rublev before pushing eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz to five sets in one of the most memorable matches of the season. His journey during the fortnight was documented in Netflix’s Break Point.

The ATP recently caught up with Tiafoe’s longtime girlfriend, Ayan Broomfield, to speak about the experience of filming for a docuseries and Tiafoe’s unforgettable tournament in New York.

“That two-week period completely changed his life, changed my life, changed his whole family’s life. It was magical,” Broomfield said. “I think when people actually understand what it took for him to actually get there financially, and just his story, I think people understand that it was more than just a tennis match. It’s literally a dream come true.

“I think his story being told in this kind of setting was kind of like a storytelling setting was amazing. And people really got to see Frances for who he actually is and what he brings to the sport.”

Watch Break Point Reunion:

One of the most fun moments of Tiafoe’s episode was when cameras took fans behind the scenes of the American’s ride back to Manhattan with his team after he upset Nadal in the fourth round.

“That was definitely a fun moment. Obviously beating one of the greats of tennis, you’re going to be super excited. But Frances is just the most happy guy. He’s so happy-go-lucky. And I think for me, I’m more of a balance of happy and kind of just serious,” Broomfield said. “I think we balance each other out a lot. And his team, I think we’re all trying to focus on maybe getting him a little bit more calm so he can focus a little bit more throughout his matches.

“But any time Frances does anything, we’re all just so happy for him, and we can’t contain it. So that’s literally how we are 95 per cent of the time, our team.”

Not only did Netflix bring fans closer to Tiafoe’s tennis success, but his background story. With parents from Sierra Leone, Tiafoe was introduced to tennis because his father was a maintenance worker at the Junior Tennis Champions Centre in College Park, Maryland.

According to Broomfield, there was a scene back home that did not make the cut.

“There was one scene that I think would have been really, really interesting for people to see about Frances. I think we did one scene at his old home and it was kind of in a lower-income area,” Broomfield said. “He actually got pretty emotional and was talking about kind of where he came from and his story a little bit more. And I think it would have been really interesting for people to see visually where he started and where he is now. But I think they did a really good job telling his story anyway.”

People might not know that Broomfield was a top college tennis player at Clemson University and then UCLA. She cracked the Top 500 of the WTA Rankings.

“We can talk about tennis. I mean, I played tennis myself. So even just when we’re seeing the draw, and we kind of look at certain players, sometimes I can act as a sounding board for matches,” Broomfield said. “Not to say that he takes my advice, but it’s nice to be able to chat about it and strategy. I just feel like we just understand it and what it takes for someone to go and be able to compete at the highest level.”

Broomfield was happy with the experience they had filming Break Point.

“I thought it was going to be a little bit more overwhelming. But they blended in super well. I felt very comfortable. It was just as if they weren’t even there at all,” Broomfield said. “And then after watching it all back, I think it was just really fun to see how we interacted with each other. I think in the moment you don’t really see kind of how you are. But after it was fun to watch, I enjoyed it.”

Now, one year after the moment that was featured in the show, Tiafoe is back in New York for the US Open. The American will play countryman Learner Tien on Monday in the first round.