The prince of the U.S. Open is from Prince George’s County

The U.S. Open crowd already adored Frances Tiafoe. The fans roared when he aced, quieted when he missed. Then came Tuesday, his most iconic victory yet — and the emotional, 23-second embrace of a distraught opponent that followed.

Tiafoe, a 28-year-old tennis star from Hyattsville, has advanced to the semifinals as the darling of this year’s U.S. Open. He’s American, he’s affable, and each time he plays at the Grand Slam in New York, one of tennis’s four annual tentpole tournaments, he elevates.

Now he’s about to play perhaps the biggest match of his life. At 7 p.m. Friday, the 11th-seeded Tiafoe will face No. 8 Ben Shelton for a spot in the finals.

The winner will become the first African American man to reach the U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972 and will advance in the quest to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 2003.

“Big Foe,” as he’s known, is equal parts power and finesse. But he’s beloved, really, for his persona.

“He has so much charisma,” Pam Shriver, the tennis legend and Baltimore native, told The Banner.

He’s easygoing in interviews. Asked this week if there’s a tactical reason he’s undefeated on a certain court in New York, he replied: “You ain’t gotta get that deep with it.”

“It’s just an energy thing,” he said.

Tiafoe has been to three U.S. Open semifinals since 2022 — as many as anyone — but he hasn’t matched that level at other majors, nor reached the championship. This tournament has been storybook thus far, though.

On Tuesday afternoon-into-evening, Tiafoe fell way behind 22-year-old Alex Michelsen. A loss for the prince of the U.S. Open seemed certain.

But Tiafoe rallied, escaping with a dramatic comeback win over a friend and fellow American. As the two hugged afterward, Michelsen latched onto Tiafoe, crying into his shoulder.

Tennis writer Ben Rothenberg called it the “moment of the U.S. Open.” Basketball Hall of Fame member Magic Johnson called the match the best tennis of the tournament. The Athletic said it was “Tiafoe’s party once more.”

“It will be remembered in tennis for years to come,” Shriver said.

American women have dominated tennis for years, but the men have been less relevant in the 21st century. Every few years, there’s a new generation of hopefuls who can’t quite keep pace with the world-beaters. Tiafoe, once again, has a chance to make his mark.

“He’s got as good a shot as he’s ever had,” retired tennis champion John McEnroe said during a broadcast Tuesday.

Tiafoe has brought the DMV on his journey into stardom. He remains close with the Junior Tennis Champions Center, the College Park club where he grew up. Last year he hit with Shelton at the club — in what proved to be a preview of Friday’s showdown.

The Washington Wizards’ No. 1 overall pick, AJ Dybantsa, is a friend and watched Tiafoe’s quarterfinal win. So did former NBA All-Star and fellow Prince George’s County native Victor Oladipo. Josh Hart, a defending NBA champion with the New York Knicks and a Montgomery County native, will root him on Friday.

Tiafoe takes his local loyalty seriously. Asked recently about the Knicks, he feigned ignorance. “I don’t know what that team is,” he said. The Wizards will win it all next year, he added. (He made a similar joke when a reporter mentioned Nike; he’s sponsored by Lululemon.)

Tennis is often tied to wealth — both players who took the court after Tiafoe on Tuesday have billionaire parents. Tiafoe, the son of Sierra Leone immigrants, is an anomaly. His father helped build that College Park tennis club as a construction worker, then became a custodian there, providing Tiafoe court access.

That background, paired with his near-misses at the U.S. Open, is what has made him a fan favorite. After Coco Gauff gritted out a win Wednesday in the women’s bracket, she was asked how she pulled it off.

“I’ll be honest,” she said. “I was thinking about Frances Tiafoe and how he came back.”