Hyattsville, Md. native Frances Tiafoe is on the run of his life at the Australian Open, and celebrated his 21st birthday in style with a round of 16 victory over 20th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov Sunday.
Frances Tiafoe is through to his first Major quarterfinal on his 21st birthday. pic.twitter.com/35J4jG4MEY
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated)
January 20, 2019 Tiafoe began playing tennis as a child at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., where his father served as Head of Maintenance. He currently resides in Orlando, Fl., but he still has plenty of love for the D.C. area and its teams, supporting the Redskins, Wizards and Capitals.
"DMV Proud!" - Frances Tiafoe pic.twitter.com/Iwb1LQ5cvw
— CJ Fogler (@cjzer0)
January 20, 2019 Tiafoe, who also knocked off fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the round of 64, was moved to tears after upsetting Dimitrov in four sets.
"It means the world. I worked my ass off, man."@FTiafoe moved to tears after the match --#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/mf7ggu6djY
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen)
January 20, 2019 "It means the world. I worked my ass off, man," Tiafoe said. "I told my parents 10 years ago I was going to be a pro and I was going to change their life and my life and now I’m in the quarters of a Slam at 21 years old. I can’t believe it, man."
"I'm happy I got it done today on my birthday. I would have been mad as hell if I lost on my birthday."
Tiafoe now moves on to take on 17-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, the match set to begin at 4:15 a.m. ET Tuesday morning. But despite being the heavy underdog (again), Tiafoe told reporters he had a simple message for Nadal.
