American tennis star Frances Tiafoe recalled how his rise to fame led to invites and interactions with the most powerful couple in football.
Tiafoe made an appearance on ‘The Pivot’ podcast, hosted by ex-NFL stars Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder, and revealed that he once took shots with Taylor Swift.
He also said that he received invites out to Kansas City from a pair of Chiefs stars: Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
‘I’ve said it in real time, whoever I’m with, like, ‘Yo, I’m out here taking shots with Taylor Swift,’ Tiafoe, 26, said on the podcast.
‘Granted, I gotta keep it a buck, we’re here on ‘The Pivot’ — I’m a Beyonce guy. But at the moment I’m like, man, like, this is crazy, she’s the biggest star out here.
‘Then Mahomes and Travis they were like ‘yo, we gotta have you in [Kansas City]. Them saying that is wild to me and then they rolled out the red carpet for me.
Frances Tiafoe opened up about his rising fame and how it’s changed who he’s interacted with
Tiafoe said that he once took shots with singer Taylor Swift (top left) and that Chiefs stars Travis Kelce (top center) and Patrick Mahomes (top right) invited him out to Kansas City
‘It’s crazy because playing tennis and being able to reach that many people and people want to meet me and hang out and actually do stuff, those are the things, it’s why you do what you do.’
Tiafoe did not reveal when or where those hangouts happened, but said that he keeps in touch with other stars – like tennis legend John McEnroe and New York Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
The 26-year-old has not been seen in public with Swift or Kelce. However, the famous couple did take in some tennis of their own at last summer’s US Open in Flushing, Queens.
Swift and Kelce were joined by Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, from a suite inside Arthur Ashe Stadium for the men’s singles final between American Taylor Fritz and Italian Jannik Sinner.
Fritz – who beat Tiafoe in the semifinals of the grand slam tournament in five sets – ended up losing to Sinner in straight sets.
Tiafoe is still in search of his first grand slam title. His best finish at one of tennis’ four major tournaments was two semifinal berths at the US Open in 2022 and 2024. He’s also made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in previous years.
The up-and-coming star said that he’s ‘just a regular dude from Maryland’ and maintains that he’s not defined by the sport he plays.
‘I’ve got a lot of interests outside just hitting a tennis ball, and you can feel that,’ he said. ‘I am who I am in every room. I’m not trying to put on for nobody else.’
Tiafoe is one of the seeds in the upcoming Australian Open men’s singles tournament
He noticed a rise in his popularity at that 2022 US Open – when he knocked off Rafael Nadal in the fourth round to reach the quarterfinals.
‘It’s amazing how it can just change like that. All of a sudden everybody wants to come and watch, people are hitting me, I’m going to events.
‘It took me a while to take that because I never really saw myself like that. But now I’ve kind of embraced it and it’s helped me for sure.’
Tiafoe currently sits at No. 17 in the ATP rankings and is one of the seeded men’s singles players at the 2025 Australian Open – which begins in just three days time.
