Yahoo News Ayan Broomfield Shares Her U.S. Open 2024 Photo Diary
Ayan Broomfield describes herself as a "very emotional person," especially when it comes to her boyfriend, Frances Tiafoe.
"One of his matches the other day, he got a standing ovation," she tells T&C, saying she started tearing up as it happened. "He has so much support here in the States; I think they really have taken him in and they have his back. Older, younger, men, women, everyone is just really, really behind him—they support him."
Broomfield, 27, is a former tennis player herself (she grew up in Canada and competed at the Division I level for UCLA), and has been a key part of Tiafoe's support system as he's broken out as an American star, especially at the U.S. Open. "He's one of the few athletes that bring something different to the game," she says. "I'm seeing people of color coming out and watching [his matches]. I'm seeing celebrities. He brings so many different people to the match and to tennis, the sport itself." During his round of 16 match, Broomfield adds, Shonda Rhimes was in the audience, which was particularly exciting as "she's one of my favorite people of all time."
As Tiafoe prepares to compete in the quarterfinals against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, Broomfield opened her camera roll to share a photo diary of her nights at the U.S. Open so far.
Broomfield has been enjoying the U.S. Open fashion. "I feel like some specific outfits—your show outfits, I guess you could call 'em—you want to have them prepped in advance, sometimes I just do things on the fly. It depends on the mood or the vibe I'm in. Sometimes if I'm more nervous for a certain match, I'm like, 'Hey, let's tone it down.' I don't want to be too loud!"
She continues, "Before I got here, I was thinking about doing more classier outfits, but I got here and I'm like, 'I am feeling the city! I'm feeling the city vibe, the urban vibe, the retro vibe.' I've completely changed everything up."
Her fashion style, she says, has evolved over the years. "When I was playing a lot and competing, I was not focused on fashion at all; everything was athleisure. But as I've been on tour more, I've tried to experiment a little bit— my style just represents my personality. One day you'll see me dressing like Princess Diana, the next day you'll see me dressing like Rihanna. It really just depends on how I'm feeling that morning, and that's what I go with."
Sometimes the camera will pan to Broomfield watching the match when she doesn't want it to. "I'm all over the place when I'm watching," she says with a laugh, "because I was like that on the court when I played. I was the Energizer bunny, I was just all over the place. When I'm watching Frances, I have to be mindful—very demure and mindful," she jokes, referencing a viral TikTok sound. "The other day, [the cameras] got me jumping on a chair, climbing a chair, and I was so embarrassed! I was so embarrassed. The next night I sat on top of my hands. I'm like, 'don't move!' But it's tough—you're so invested in your significant other's success and what they're doing and you want them to do well. I can't control it!"
She adds, "I sit beside his mom, we're both kind of a mess in the box and we feed off each other. It's not good. We'll be kicking each other, holding each other's hands tight, and doing the most. But it's nice to be around other people—everyone wants him to win just as bad as I do."
"You can't go to the Open and not have a Honey Deuce—it's just not a thing!" Broomfield says. "If you don't get a picture or drink one, where you even there?" She adds, "I hate melon! I really hate it. But in the Honey Deuce, it's so good. And they creep up on you—they taste like juice. So you have one or two and you're like, 'I'm feeling good,' and in 30 minutes you're on your butt."
How to make a Honey Deuce at home
"I don't like getting [to the match] early. I don't like to chitchat," she says. She times it perfectly with her driver, she says, to have exactly ten minutes to get to her seat. In the car on the way over, she's been watching Twilight movies or Scandal.
"After the match, we'll do a suite visit and we'll go see all the friends and family. And then we all have a huge dinner in the room. There's 15 people in this room every night, and we just hang and laugh and talk about the match and just joke around. But we try to honestly do the same very similar things every single time."
She gets inspiration for her outfits from fans she sees at the Open. "Sometimes I'll be walking by and I'll be like, 'oh, I liked that. That was cute. I'll write it in my notes.' Everyone is really coming to slay and everyone's doing it in their own way. I see people that are coming to the tournament and have a Wimbledon-esque vibe with a nice white dress. And then you have people that are super retro with cool oversized jean shorts and a cute tank and a hat and accessories. It's really cool to see, and everyone's really bringing it this year. I've been blown away."
Another main inspiration for her is Jasmine Tookes, she says. "I'm obsessed with her. She's so elegant and classy, and I pull a lot of my inspiration from her."
While every day during the U.S. Open looks different, Broomfield and Tiafoe start each day the exact same way—they go on the same walk, stop by the same coffee shop, eat breakfast at their hotel.
"There's so many things throughout the day that you can't control," Broomfield says. "There's so many things on the court that you can't control—but our morning and how we spend it and the routine in our schedule is something that we can control. Just being able to have that in the morning just to reset before you head into the craziness of the evening or afternoon has been really important to us. And it's been working so far. Fingers crossed!"
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