Tiafoe Hooks Up With Jay-Z

[marc45]

Tiafoe Turns Pro... Hooks Up With Jay-Z

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...d2994c-dc7c-11e4-acfe-cd057abefa9a_story.html

On the heels of his first professional men’s singles title, 17-year-old tennis phenom Francis Tiafoe has decided to turn pro. Tiafoe will sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation agency.

A native of College Park, Tiafoe beat France’s Maxime Tabatruong, 6-1, 6-2, to win a $15,000 Futures tournament in Bakersfield, Calif., two weeks ago. Tiafoe made history in 2013 by winning the Orange Bowl Boys’ 18s title at 15, becoming the youngest player to win the prestigious junior tournament and the top-ranked junior boy.

When Tiafoe first started rising in the junior tennis ranks, his parents were in no rush for him to turn pro, telling reporters they wanted him to attend college first and stay an amateur. Tiafoe will be the first tennis player on Roc Nation’s roster.

Tiafoe trains with coaches Misha Kouznetsov and Frank Salazar out of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, a USTA Regional Training Center. He spent Monday afternoon at the White House for the White House Easter Egg Roll, along with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki and Wizards point guard John Wall.

 

[marc45]

new boyfriend for Woz apparently...wish them well...Wozbama?

 

[citybert]

JayZ/Roc Nation has pretty much said hes the next Nadal. Which is odd as The Nadal/Costa agency would have signed him already.

Anyway they have an excellent track record in the two years theyve been in business and have scored huge for their clients. Hopefully tiafoe can lock in now with a shoe or apparel deal before he hits the challengers. But I doubt youll see any Roc Nation agents in the challenger events.

 

[McLovin]

LOL:

One of Syed’s first moves as Tiafoe’s agent was to correct the spelling of his first name. Media, tournaments and official tennis websites have spelled his given name “Francis” for years. Apparently his name was misspelled on an entry form in his career and no one bothered to correct the mistake.

College Park's Francis Tiafoe returns the ball to Evgeny Donskoy during a first-round match at last year’s Citi Open (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

10misspelledchars

 

[citybert]

think roc nation agents will be happy when tiafoe wins challengers and racks up a 10k check? that needs to be split with others. This is their firt tennis client I think their in for a few surprises.

 

[MarTennis]

If Francis agents do not understand the matriculation to the ATP Tour then it was a mistake to sign with Roc Nation. That said well you know these guys know what the trail is to the ATP Tour. I'm sure they have planned accordingly.

 

[citybert]

If Francis agents do not understand the matriculation to the ATP Tour then it was a mistake to sign with Roc Nation. That said well you know these guys know what the trail is to the ATP Tour. I'm sure they have planned accordingly.

I certainly hope so. The agents getting a small percentage of chalalenger winnings is pretty much less than the tab on their dinner compared to the other clients they have. Also traveling out to the middle of nowhere to win a 10k purse sucks for anyone

 

[decrepitude]

The spelling mistake isn't surprising. "Frances" is usually a girl's name and "Francis" a boy's.

 

[dondropshot]

The spelling mistake isn't surprising. "Frances" is usually a girl's name and "Francis" a boy's.

Does it really matter if he's "hooking up" with JayZ...??