Ayan Broomfield says she keeps running into racial prejudice while attending tennis tournaments to support Frances Tiafoe, with staff repeatedly steering her toward service entrances and workers’ areas despite her official credentials. At one event, she said, workers told her the entrance for staff was over there. Her reply was blunt: her significant other was about to play on center court in five minutes, and she was in the right line.
Broomfield said the moments may sound small on paper, but they add up to something heavier. They leave, she said, a feeling that people do not think she actually belongs. The former professional player, who won the 2019 NCAA women’s doubles title at UCLA and once reached a WTA ranking of 680, said that is especially painful because she believes there is not enough representation of women of color at tournaments.
Her comments land in a sport that still talks frequently about access and inclusion but often leaves those questions to the margins. Broomfield said the problem is not that anyone is trying to block her outright. It is the look, the assumption, the reflex that sends her toward the wrong line. That, she said, is why the encounters feel so uncomfortable and why she wants to push for change while she is around the tour with Tiafoe, the world No. 21.
Tiafoe, for his part, has been open about how much he values that support. He said a strong woman in your corner is number one to a very successful man, and Broomfield’s role has only become more visible as he builds toward the French Open. He opened the Hamburg Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 18-year-old German wild card Diego Dedura, extending his perfect 10-0 record in opening-round matches this season. That run gives him a clean start on clay before Roland Garros, where he reached the quarterfinals last year.
The timing matters because Tiafoe is trying to use Hamburg as a stepping stone while managing, in his own words, a few hiccups with his body. He said all eyes are on the French Open, and that puts every match, every practice session and every travel stop under a brighter spotlight. For Broomfield, that spotlight has brought another issue into view: who feels welcome inside tennis venues, and who still has to prove they belong.
She said she is trying to fix that. Everyone, she said, should feel they can come to the tournament and be welcomed with open arms. That goal, she added, is tied to the example set by her ancestors. For now, her complaint is not about one bad encounter. It is about a pattern, and about the way a player’s life off court can still reveal how far the sport has to go.
