Tennis Pro Frances Tiafoe Remembers ‘Taking Shots’ With Taylor Swift

A tennis phenom Frances Tiafoe still in awe whenever he rubs elbows with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

“I sit there and I say it in real time (to) whoever I’m with, like, ‘I’m taking pictures with Taylor Swift,”’ Tiafoe, 26, said during the Tuesday, Jan. 7, episode of “The Pivot” a podcast. “Granted, I… a Beyoncé guy, but at this point, I was like, ‘Man, this is crazy.'”

Tiafoe and his girlfriend, Ayan Broomfieldattended the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Denver Broncos in November 2024, which Swift, 35, had also attend to encourage love Travis Kelce. After the game, the couples split up in a private suite and hooked up a series of now viral social media selfies.

“She’s the biggest star out here and there, you know, Trav and (Patrick) Mahomes (is) like, ‘Yeah, we gotta get you in KC.’ They say that’s wild to me and they rolled me out on the red carpet,” Tiafoe recalled. “It’s crazy because playing tennis and people want to get out and hang out and actually do things. Those are (those) things why you do what you do. “

Tiafoe started play tennis aged 3, turning pro in 2015 when he turned 17. Won his first ATP title at the 2018 Delray Beach tournament, becoming the youngest American athlete since Andy Roddick to take home the trophy. Despite his accolades and achievements on the court, Tiafoe sees his career as something more.

“This is who I am and what I represent, as people who belong to you,” he said on the episode “The Pivot”. “Like, a lot of people can see themselves in you (and) the energy I play with, the smile I have and I’m just an ordinary man. Man, I’m just a dude from Maryland who loves tennis.”

Tiafoe explained that he also has “many interests outside of hitting the tennis ball.”

“You can feel it,” he continued. “I am who I am in every room. I’m not trying to dress for anyone else and people feel that.”

As his career began, only when he “beat (Rafael) Nadal” at the 2022 US Open tournament.

“I stepped into something different,” he added. “I went to the hotel that day, and the hotel was packed. Everyone (was) waiting for me … as opposed to when I entered the hotel that day, they (were) like, ‘Oh, you’re here to watch the US Open?’ … It’s amazing how things can change like that.”