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Frances Tiafoe replaces Juan Martin Del Potro at Laver Cup

By Maxwell Ogden

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - SEPTEMBER 20: (L-R) Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, Denis Shapovalov of ahead of Canada, Frances Tiafoe of United States, Jack Sock of United States and John Isner of United States reacts during a photoshoot ahead of the Laver Cup on September 20, 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic. The Laver Cup consists of six European players competing against their counterparts from the rest of the World. Europe will be captained by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will captain the Rest of the World team. The event runs from 22-24 September. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup)
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - SEPTEMBER 20: (L-R) Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, Denis Shapovalov of ahead of Canada, Frances Tiafoe of United States, Jack Sock of United States and John Isner of United States reacts during a photoshoot ahead of the Laver Cup on September 20, 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic. The Laver Cup consists of six European players competing against their counterparts from the rest of the World. Europe will be captained by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will captain the Rest of the World team. The event runs from 22-24 September. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup) /
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19-year-old American phenom Frances Tiafoe will receive an incredible opportunity when he replaces Juan Martin Del Potro at the Laver Cup.

While Sloane Stephens represents a brighter future for American women’s tennis, fans have been searching for answers on the men’s side of the draw. Sam Querrey has experienced revitalizing Grand Slam success, but most continue to question when the title drought will end.

Although he’s yet to achieve the status of a Grand Slam champion, growing optimism exists that Frances Tiafoe could be the player who resurrects American men’s tennis.

At 19 years of age, Tiafoe is the second-youngest player on the Top 100 on the ATP World Tour rankings. Whether or not his ranking improves by year’s end, his upside is being rewarded with an incredible opportunity to play against some of the best players in the world.

In a post to the official USTA Twitter account, it was revealed that Tiafoe will replace Juan Martin Del Potro for Team World at the 2017 Laver Cup.

This promises to be a remarkable chance for Tiafoe to prove himself on a big stage against top-flight competition.

Tiafoe will be one of four Americans representing Team World at the 2017 Laver Cup. He’ll be joining John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Jack Sock in that regard, as well as Denis Shapovalov of Canada and Nick Kyrgios of Australia.

That group will be heavy underdogs against Team Europe, which features six superstars of tennis: Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, and Alexander Zverev.

The odds are stacked against Team World, but the fact that Tiafoe will have a chance to play in such a star-studded event is reason enough to be optimistic.

Tiafoe took Federer to five sets at the 2017 US Open, and upset Zverev at the Western & Southern Open. The hope appears to be that Tiafoe can build upon that success and provide Team World with a breakout performance.

As for Del Potro, here’s hoping he recovers soon from the injury concerns he has following the 2017 US Open.

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Frances Tiafoe is closing in on one of the biggest opportunities of his young and promising ATP career.

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