How Frances Tiafoe is paying it forward, inspiring others

NEW YORK — As Frances Tiafoe settles in for his third-round match at the US Open on Friday, Russell Lokko will do all he can — school schedule permitting — to find a television on the campus of the University of Louisville to watch.

“I always looked up to him growing up,” Lokko said of Tiafoe this week. “The connection I have to him is special.”

Tiafoe has that way about him. His on-court exuberance, his passion, his love of the game has not only made him a fan favorite but also earned him a spot on the Forbes list of the top 10 highest-paid tennis players in 2025. He’s the only player on the list who hasn’t won or reached a Grand Slam final.

For Lokko, a junior on the Louisville tennis team, the relationship with Tiafoe goes beyond both being sons of African immigrants and having a deep love for tennis. They are connected by Tiafoe’s generosity, as he recently delivered a check — a $30,000 scholarship gifted through his USTA Foundation Frances Tiafoe Fund — that allowed Lokko to remain on campus.

“I was seriously considering transferring, so I could pay less,” said Lokko, who had lost the partial scholarship. “This allowed me to come back.”

In late July, Lokko was notified by the USTA that he would have the opportunity to attend the Cincinnati Open, where he would meet Tiafoe and shadow him for a couple of days.

“They told me I would spend a day with him while they filmed a day in his life, warm him up for his match and spend time with him,” Lokko said. “I was super excited. Not everyone gets a chance to hit with a guy who was a top 10 player in the world.”

For Lokko, it appeared to be a logical mentor-mentee connection. Both are products of the USTA Foundation National Junior Tennis & Learning Center (Lokko at the NJTL of Trenton, N.J., and Tiafoe at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md.). They each took up the sport at very young ages, urged by their parents who saw that the game could give them opportunities.

At one point in Cincinnati, Tiafoe began to present gifts to Lokko: a water bottle, hats, athletic gear.

Then the shocker, which came after Tiafoe said, “I have one last gift for you.”

Lokko, out of the corner of his eye, saw two people walking out from behind him with a giant check.

“The [$30,000] was one of the first things I saw, and it was so crazy to see that number,” Lokko said. “I couldn’t speak for like five minutes.”

First there was the initial shock. Then there was the realization that he did not have to transfer from Louisville. Lokko sent a photo of the moment of him holding the check — without a caption — to his parents.

“They both loved the message, and [were] saying, ‘Thank God,’ ” Lokko said. “Like me, they were super excited.”

Now the family is even more excited to follow the career of Tiafoe, 27, who’s ranked 17th in the world. Tiafoe’s best career showings in Grand Slam events were both semifinal appearances here in New York — last year and in 2022. It’s a place where he thrives off the crowd’s energy.

“Crowd support is insane,” Tiafoe said. “You always play well in places you’ve done so well. It’s super electric.”

For Tiafoe, the goal is to win a tennis major, something an American hasn’t done since Andy Roddick’s win at the 2023 US Open. The emergence of players like Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz (No. 4 in the world) and Ben Shelton (No. 6), along with the changing of the guard of the dominant players in men’s tennis, has given American players their best shot in years to end the drought in majors.

“I think this is the group to do it,” Tiafoe said. “The door is open. Let’s call a spade a spade: It’s not what it was. Obviously, you have two guys at the top in Carlos [Alcaraz] and [Jannik] Sinner. But everybody else can get it for sure.”

Tiafoe realizes the more he can stay on the top of his game, the more he can have the opportunity to inspire and help people like Lokko.

“Nipsey Hussle said it best, ‘The highest human act is to inspire,’ ” Tiafoe said, quoting the late rapper. “I feel that when I’m out here playing and competing at the highest level, I’m in a great space to inspire people. I want to pay it forward.”