Madison Keys, the runner up in the 2017 U.S. Open and a semifinalist in 2018, is back in the quarterfinals. Cheering her on is her fiancé, fellow American tennis player Bjorn Fratengelo. Keys, 28, and Fratengelo, 29, have been dating since 2017, and got engaged earlier this year. Here's everything you need to know about Bjorn Fratangelo:
1. He's from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He started playing tennis at age 4. "I played a few sports growing up, but I when I was a youngster, I was really shy and I kind of shied away from team sports, so tennis was the one that I gravitated toward the most, just because I was by myself," Fratangelo said. "It’s weird, because I’m not shy at all now — I consider myself to be pretty personable — but I guess that’s how it was and tennis was the sport I got really good at."
2. Bjorn Fratangelo is named after Bjorn Borg.
His dad idolized Bjorn Borg. "I don’t think about Borg. For me, it’s just my name. That’s what people call me," Fratangelo said in 2017. "He was my dad’s idol growing up, and they actually met him before I was born and I guess they were picking some names and that was the one they went with."
3. He reached a career-high ranking of 99.
His biggest tennis success was winning the 2011 Roland Garros junior title. "I had a lot of eyes on me after that," he said. "It weighed me down a little bit. I didn’t want one good result to anchor the process."
He broke into the top 100 in 2016, but now is ranked 638 in the world.
4. He and Keys were friends before they began dating.
Keys, who moved to Boca Raton in 2005, met Fratangelo when he moved there the following year. According to the ATP Tour, "The pair trained at the same facility, and they were part of a group of friends that was close." When they both moved to Orlando, they lived in the same apartment complex for a bit. In 2017, they began dating, and Fratangelo proposed in 2023.
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"He actually did it at home. The day that I got back from Dubai so I was not expecting it at all," Keys recalls. "I was sitting on the couch and he was like, ‘Hey I have your birthday present.’ He handed me something and then got down on one knee. Just sitting on the couch so now we have to keep the couch forever."
5. Keys and Fratangelo have played mixed doubles together.
In 2021, they played mixed doubles at the U.S. Open. "He finally wore me down," Keys said. "I was always just saying I was going to be so nervous and I was going to have to try so hard, but he finally said, ‘We’ll just have some fun.’ I’m very happy that we did it."
Fratangelo added, "We had to do it once. If we never do it again, fine. I would like to, though. It was a lot of fun, but it’s no secret that maybe this year for her has been a bit of a struggle. [It was] just to have some fun on court with me and play and try to get a win and if not, just have an hour of laughs and fun. It’s good for everybody."
6. He's a constant support for Keys.
Fratangelo can often be spotted in her player's box, and even offers some coaching advice. This U.S. Open, Keys said, "He's really just kind of helped me enjoy being on the tennis court. There’s been just some, I mean, a few things here and there...Overall just really time on court, just kind of trying to get me to relax and take a little bit of pressure off of myself. I think when you have one of your biggest supporters standing there, especially after the French Open, a tough time for me, just kind of having that constant support I think was the biggest difference."
Emily Burack (she/her) is the news writer for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.