Bjorn Fratangelo ( ; born July 19, 1993) is a professional American

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player. He won the boys' singles title at the 2011 French Open defeating

Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest ...

. Fratangelo is only the second American out of three to win the event, following

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beh ...

in 1977 and preceding Tommy Paul in 2015.

Early life

Fratangelo began playing tennis at age three. and is named after tennis champion

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at ...

. His father, Mario, is his coach. Fratangelo attended St. John the Baptist School in

Plum, Pennsylvania Plum is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 27,144 at the 2020 census. A suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located northeast of the city in what is commonly referred to as the East Hills s ...

until the 8th grade when he moved to

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

for training reasons, and was an online student of

Barron Collier High School Barron G. Collier High School is a four-year public high school located in North Naples, Collier County, Florida, United States, near Pine Ridge and about northeast of the city of Naples. Barron Collier was included in '' Newsweek''s 2006 li ...

Junior career

Fratangelo won the boys' singles title at the 2011 French Open, beating

in the final. The win propelled him to a career high of No. 2 in the junior rankings. He also played in the junior championship at the 2011 US Open, losing in the third round to eventual champion

Oliver Golding Oliver Golding (born 29 September 1993) is a former British professional tennis player and former child actor. Showing promise in reaching a world junior ranking of number two and being the 2011 U.S. Open Boys' Champion., Golding failed to tran ...

in three sets.

Professional

Early years

Fratangelo has mainly played on the ITF Pro Circuit since 2009. He played sparsely in both 2009 and 2010, before playing on a much more regular basis in 2011. He made his first final in July 2011 in the USA F17 event in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, losing to Brian Baker in straight sets. The following month, Fratangelo was given a wildcard for the 2011 US Open qualifiers, losing to

Fritz Wolmarans Fritz Wolmarans (born 7 March 1986) is a former professional South African tennis player. Wolmarans has a career high ATP singles ranking of 198 achieved on 16 May 2011. He also played for the South Africa Davis Cup team. Tennis career Juni ...

in the first round of qualification. He reached another final on the ITF Men's Circuit in May 2012, but lost in straight sets to

Tennys Sandgren Tennys Sandgren II ( ; born July 22, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 41 on January 14, 2019. He broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings toward the end of 2017 after comp ...

in Tampa, Florida. In 2013, Fratangelo reached the semi-final in the USA F2 event in Sunrise, Florida, losing to eventual champion Robby Ginepri, and then won his first professional title the following week, beating

Arthur De Greef Arthur De Greef may refer to: * Arthur De Greef (composer) Arthur De Greef (10 October 186229 August 1940) was a Belgian pianist and composer. Life and career Born in Louvain, he won first prize in a local music competition at the age of 11 a ...

in the final in Weston, Florida. He made his second final in as many weeks when he faced De Greef once again, but lost this time in Palm Coast, Florida.

2016-2017: First Grand Slam win and Top 100 debut

Paris-FR-75-open de tennis-25-5-16-Roland Garros-Bjorn Fratangelo-01

In April 2016, he won the 2016 French Open Wild Card Challenge by reaching the semifinals in

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

and winning the Savannah Challenger the following week. He put the wildcard to good use by defeating compatriot

Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...

in the 1st round of the French Open to crack the top 100 for the first time. His ranking of No. 99 came out on June 6, 2016, which was the 60th birthday of the man he was named after,

. This was also his first career-match win in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. Fratangelo reached the semifinals at the 2017 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

2021-2022: Mixed doubles debut and first doubles win at the US Open

He qualified at the

2021 French Open The 2021 French Open was a major level tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 30 May to 13 June 2021, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. The qualifiers t ...

, before losing to Cameron Norrie. At the 2021 US Open, Fratangelo made his debut in mixed doubles with Madison Keys, whom he began dating four years ago. He also paired in men’s doubles with Christopher Eubanks as wildcards where he reached the second round recording his first win in doubles in his career at a Grand Slam over

Frances Tiafoe Frances Tiafoe Jr. ( ; born January 20, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has ranked Tiafoe as high as world No. 17 in singles, on October 10, 2022, and world No. 160 in doubles, on No ...

and Nicholas Monroe. He secured his main draw spot at the

2022 French Open The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair ...

for a second consecutive year at this Major with a straight sets win over

Nino Serdarušić Nino Serdarušić (; born 13 December 1996) is a Croatian tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 183 achieved on 4 April 2022. Juniors Serdarušić had a career high junior ranking of No. 21, and partnering Petros Chrys ...

ATP Challenger & ITF Futures Finals

Singles: 25 (12–13)

Doubles: 12 (2–10)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Boys' singles: 1 (1 title)

Singles performance timeline

''Current through the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fratangelo, Bjorn American male tennis players French Open junior champions Tennis players from Pittsburgh 1993 births Living people American people of Italian descent Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles