Frances Tiafoe. The two-time US Open semifinalist is the gift that keeps on giving.
On behalf of his foundation, Tiafoe awarded rising junior and standout tennis student-athlete at the University of Louisville, Russell Lokko, a $30,000 scholarship over two years through his Foundation’s Frances Tiafoe Fund.
The award will cover Lokko’s gap in scholarship money as he continues his education at Louisville.
Tiafoe, who received the ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 2020, launched his foundation, the Frances Tiafoe Fund, in unison with the USTA in 2023. He surprised Lokko with the news during a special behind-the-scenes experience at the Cincinnati Open.
“This is great, I’m excited to get it out,” said Tiafoe, according to the ATP. “To see how ecstatic he was with being able to take care of his junior and senior career, it’s a huge deal. [Being] the son of immigrants, I’ve been in that seat, I know how it is.”
“I’m super excited. I’m really blessed for Frances to give me that cheque,” Lokko said, via the ATP. “It’s going to take a lot off my parents and help me stay focused on what I want to do in college and past that.
“Growing up, Frances has always been a role model for me. People like me, we don’t see people like us around the game often, so it’s just really inspiring to have that role model and believe that you can do it yourself.”
Here’s more on Lokko, from the USTA:
Lokko grew up playing tennis at the NJTL of Trenton, a community organization part of the USTA Foundation’s National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network–the same network that supported Tiafoe’s early training at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in his hometown of College Park, Md. Co-founded in 1969 by Arthur Ashe, Charlie Pasarell, and Sheridan Snyder, the NJTL network is made up of over 270 organizations nationwide that use tennis and education to prepare young people from under-resourced communities for the challenges and opportunities of life.
While in Cincinnati, Lokko attended a professional soccer game with Tiafoe and sat in Tiafoe’s player box during his first-round win in Cincinnati on Saturday.
