5 things you should know about Frances Tiafoe

KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 23:  Frances Tiafoe of USA looks on against Konstantin Kravchuk of Russia at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 23, 2017 in Key Biscayne, Florida.  (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Tiafoe took both Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro to the edge last week

#2 He’s broken the top 100

KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 25:  Frances Tiafoe reacts against Roger Federer of Switzerland during day 6 of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 25, 2017 in Key Biscayne, Florida.  (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Tiafoe reached a career-high rank of 86 this month and can no doubt return to the top 100; he is at 101

Poised at #101, Tiafoe is now looking to claw his way back into the top 100 ranked ATP players. Earlier this month, however, the teen hit his career high of 86th on the back of a stellar run at this year’s Australian Open. Starting out as a qualifier, Tiafoe went through three rounds of qualifying to eventually see his run ended by Alexander Zverev.

Although most of his wins in the interim had been against lower-ranked players, Tiafoe’s newest battles against Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer – taking them both to the brink, have proved that the young player is back in the ascendency and raring to go.

Last year, Tiafoe displayed the best performance of his career so far against John Isner at the 2016 US Open, where he took the iconic American server to five tight sets – two of them tiebreaks, and had his much higher-ranked rival teetering on the edge of defeat.

Another couple of good performances could quickly send him right back into the top field – and perhaps a main draw soon enough!