120511Francis Tiafoe114.JPG Frances Tiafoe for the New York Times

photo by Matt Roth
Friday, May 11, 2012
Assignment ID: 30125820A

Francis Tiafoe, the top-ranked 14-year-old tennis player in the country, trains during an intense strength and conditioning session at the Tennis Center at College Park in Maryland, Friday, May 11, 2012.

His father immigrated from Sierra Leone in 1996. Francis's father, Constant lived where he worked at the Tennis Center at College Park, where Francis and his twin brother Franklin would occasionally sleep. Misha Kouznetsov, a tennis pro at the Center saw potential in Francis and has been training the twins since they were eight. Constant and his family have since moved into an apartment five minutes away, and the boys train and go to school full-time at the Center.

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Copyright: 2012, Matt Roth
Image Size: 3827x2551 / 2.0MB; BALTIMORE PHOTOGRAPHER Baltimore City mattrothphoto photo photographer photography Francis Tiafoe tennis top 14-year-old Tennis Center at College Park Frances Tiafoe Pat Etcheberry sports photography
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photo by Matt Roth<br />
Friday, May 11, 2012<br />
Assignment ID: 30125820A<br />
<br />
Francis Tiafoe, the top-ranked 14-year-old tennis player in the country, trains during an intense strength and conditioning session at the Tennis Center at College Park in Maryland, Friday, May 11, 2012.<br />
<br />
His father immigrated from Sierra Leone in 1996. Francis's father, Constant lived where he worked at the Tennis Center at College Park, where Francis and his twin brother Franklin would occasionally sleep. Misha Kouznetsov, a tennis pro at the Center saw potential in Francis and has been training the twins since they were eight. Constant and his family have since moved into an apartment five minutes away, and the boys train and go to school full-time at the Center.