ATP Next Gen Finals: Interactive timeline of steep rise of Frances Tiafoe, who is USA's next big hope in men's singles

How he qualified Frances Tiafoe reached two ATP World Tour finals this year, not to mention he jumped nearly 60 spots from the World No 108 spot he habited in January this year. In February, he won the Delray Beach title, stunning players like Juan Martin del Potro, Hyeon Chung and Denis Shapovalov. In May, he made it to the final at Estoril, but lost the clay court tournament final to hometown hero Joao Sousa. Tiafoe’s 2018 in 280 characters Tiafoe’s 2018 in numbers: 68 ranking spots jump between January and November; 2 finals; 1 title. Biggest scalp of the season He’s notched up two stellar wins in two Grand Slams this year: a US Open first round upset over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and another first round victory over World No 34 Fernando Verdasco at Wimbledon. And then there was that heady victory over World No 29 Milos Raonic in a Round of 32 encounter at ATP Toronto Masters. Yet, his victory over Juan Martin del Potro in the Delray Beach tennis event was pathbreaking. Not only because the American went on to win the title, but also because he started as a wild card while Del Potro was the World No 10 and the second seed at the event. It was a match where he saved 14 of 16 break points and served 17 aces against the big-serving Argentine. One thing you didn’t know about Tiafoe Frances Tiafoe’s father, Frances Sr, and mother, Alphina, moved from Sierra Leone to the United States in 1996. Tiafoe began playing tennis at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park in Maryland, where his father had helped construct the tennis facility in 1999 and later became the Head of Maintenance. Tiafoe and his twin brother, Franklin, would sometimes come to work with their dad and would end up spending the whole time at the tennis center. Why is Tiafoe the NextGen? People who know Tiafoe speak of how affable and easy-going the American tennis star is. But this season he has made the step up to being as serious about his game as easy-going he is off the tennis court. He is currently ranked World No 40. He currently has a 27-24 win-loss record in 2018. For the rest of the profiles of contenders at the ATP Next Gen Finals 2018, click here .