Tennis Star Shows Knicks Love During US Open

If the New York Knicks can’t bring a title to the city, Frances Tiafoe is more than happy to do it for them.

Tiafoe kept an unofficial, apparent tradition alive at the US Open: the 20th-ranked player on the men’s side arrived for his second-round at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens adorned in a Jalen Brunson Knicks jersey, as captured by Knicks stats expert Tommy Beer. This comes a year after Tiafoe, a Maryland native, donned the threads of then-Knicks sixth man Immanuel Quickley during last summer’s proceedings.

For what it’s worth, the ritual appears to be working: Tiafoe advanced to the fourth round, and eventually the quarterfinals, in Quickley’s No. 5. After entering with the jersey of the Knicks’ newly-minted captain, Tiafoe took a 6-4, 6-1, 1-0 decision from Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan, allowing him to move onto the third round.

After the victory, Tiafoe shook hands with Brunson’s teammate and collegiate confidant Mikal Bridges, who was in attendance alongside Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy (h/t Brett Hanfling of the NBA). Tiafoe now awaits the winner of the second-round match between fellow American Ben Shelton and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Though he admits to being a Washington Wizards fan as a Maryland native, Tiafoe has shown a certain love for New York’s hardwood squads: he posed on Vogue wearing Sabrina Ionescu’s New York Liberty jersey while X user @whomstissarah caught him warming up ina Breanna Stewart-styled get-up earlier this week. Before the tournament tipped off, Tiafoe took in the Liberty’s win over the Dallas Wings at Barclays Center on Tuesday.

Tiafoe is seeking his first Grand Slam victory and Queens has been particularly kind to his prior chances: in addition to last year’s quarterfinal run, he posted his best Slam result in 2022, when he made it all the way to the semifinal before falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. Tiafoe previously defeated second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the fourth round to gain entry into the final stages.

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