US Open 2022 - Can Frances Tiafoe be the first American man to win the US Open in nearly 20 years?

NEW YORK — The wristband on Frances Tiafoe's racket hand reads «Believe. Why Not Me.»

After defeating Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev in front of packed stadiums, many more have begun to believe that his time might be now.

Perhaps Tiafoe will be the one who ends the 19-year drought for a U.S. men's singles champion at the US Open.

Watching him play is a delight: the way he sprints back after changeovers, his eye-catching style of play, the wonderful array of shots, his ruthless serve. And even the sheer carnage of the scene behind his chair at the end of the match, clothes and shoes strewn all over the place.

«My player bank is diabolical. Yeah, it's getting the job done, so who cares right now?» Tiafoe said after his match against Rublev.

And all that's all whipped up with his incredible backstory and infectious personality.

«Hopefully there'll be a movie about him one day,» his coach Wayne Ferreira said after the win over Rublev.

Born in Maryland, the 24-year-old is the son of immigrants who moved to the U.S. in the 1990s from war-torn Sierra Leone. His dad, Constant, worked on the construction of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Washington, D.C. Constant ended up with the job of caretaker, and was given a room there where his boys — Frances and his twin brother, Franklin — would sleep some nights as their mom, Alphina, worked double shifts as a nurse.

«It wasn't supposed to be anything like this,» Tiafoe said earlier this week. «Once we got in the game of tennis, my dad was like, 'It would be awesome if you guys can use this as a full scholarship to school.' We couldn't afford a university, so use the game of tennis.»

Nine years ago in 2013 he won the Orange Bowl — a junior tournament that Roger Federer, Jim