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Tennis star Frances Tiafoe’s girlfriend, Ayan Broomfield, is shining a light on racism on and off the court.
“A lot of the times when the [Ayan’s Aces] girls come, I do kind of give them a bit of a warning that they might get some weird stares and stuff. … It shouldn’t be jarring, but sometimes I think it is jarring to see 20 women of color walking through a tennis tournament,” Broomfield, 28, said in a Monday, May 18, interview with Hard Court, referring to her eponymous nonprofit organization. “Sometimes we’re asked like, ‘Are you part of the Real Housewives? Are you shooting a music video?’”
She continued, “I wouldn’t say that it’s their fault, per se, but just the fact that it’s so shocking for them to see a group of women of color at a tennis tournament … instead of thinking, ‘You know what, these people came to really enjoy the sport, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the tennis itself.’”
Broomfield, a former tennis player, has been dating Tiafoe, 28, since 2015. She regularly attends Tiafoe’s matches, often getting confused for an event staffer instead of a player’s girlfriend.
“Sometimes when I go to tournaments, I’ll have my credential on and I’ll go to the entrance, and people will be like, ‘The workers’ entrance is over there,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, actually, my significant other is about to play on center court in five minutes. I’m in the right line, I promise,’” she recalled to the outlet. “It’s just uncomfortable, you know? And people don’t really understand that part of it. It’s not this whole big thing; it’s not that they’re not letting me in. It’s just that little [sense in your head that] you don’t necessarily … belong.”
According to Broomfield, it’s “ not pleasant” to be questioned about her tournament attendance.
“It’s not fun, and I think it is because there isn’t enough representation of women of color at the tournament,” she said, further acknowledging the Ayan’s Aces mission. “That’s what I’m trying to fix, because no one should feel like that. Everyone should feel like they can come to the tournament and be welcomed with open arms. That’s just the goal of my ancestors.”
Broomfield launched her eponymous organization in 2025 to diversify the tennis landscape by bringing more women of color to watch major tournaments.
“It started with me using up Frances’ allotment of tickets and just sending them out through social media,” she told Hard Court. “But now we’ve been able to work with the tennis tournaments themselves — they’ve seen that it’s something that needs to happen. They’ve noticed that they want to support it, and they’ve been able to give us access to their suites and additional tickets.”
Broomfield has since been able to expand the reach of Ayan’s Aces, taking members to golf tournaments and Formula 1 races too.
“I think the end goal for this … I want to make sure that this is something we can handle on a global platform,” she stated. “I think it would be really cool to host weeks with a brand at tournaments like the French Open, and bring girls from the States all the way there, or work with people who are already there. I want it to be global, and I want it to be accessible every week of the year, at every major tournament, where people feel like they have access and can come [watch] tennis and learn more about the sport.”
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