Australian Open: American Frances Tiafoe notches emotional upset of Grigor Dimitrov
MELBOURNE — There is no question Frances Tiafoe will never forget his 21st birthday.
It's the day that Tiafoe, the American-born son of Sierra Leone immigrants, secured passage to his first career Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Playing in his 12th Grand Slam tournament, and third Australian Open, the 39th-ranked Tiafoe upset 20th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-5, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 7-5 in 3 hours, 39 minutes on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon.
Upon victory, Tiafoe knelt to kiss the court on Melbourne Arena and Dimitrov came over to Tiafoe’s side of the net to offer congratulations. The crowd then sang an enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday and started chanting, “T-I-A-F-O-E.”
“I - I ,” said Tiafoe, who choked up and started wiping tears away with his shirt. “It means the world. I worked my ass off. I told my parents 10 years ago I was going to be a pro and change my life and change their lives. And now I’m in the quarters of a Slam and I can’t believe it.
“I would have been mad as hell if I lost on my birthday,” he added later, laughing.
Tiafoe, who trains at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, is living up to his promise to his parents. He purchased a home in Maryland for his mom, and an apartment in Orlando for his dad back in 2017.
“Obviously, if you guys know anything about me, the story in tennis, it obviously wasn’t a normal tennis story,” he said. “The beginning of my career, I was playing for them, trying to do everything for my family. Now I put them in a great place. Now I’m trying to do it for me.”
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The other day, Tiafoe mimicked LeBron James’ celebration movements after winning his match, which is known as “The Silencer.” ESPN posted a video on Instagram asking who did it better, and James commented with a crown and two muscle emojis.
“Clearly he knows who I am now,” said Tiafoe, smiling. “I was like, ‘That’s just crazy.’ I mean, he’s a hero of everybody, I hope. We’re talking about LeBron James.”
Tiafoe became the second American man to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick in 2010. Tennys Sandgren did it last year.
It all started for Tiafoe at this Australian Open when he upset fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa in a four-set, second-round encounter. He then went on to post his first career five-set victory over Andreas Seppi of Italy.
Tiafoe’s best previous Grand Slam result was journeying to the Wimbledon third round last year.
Dimitrov, who had the benefit of coaching consultant Andre Agassi in attendance, played Tiafoe close, but couldn’t stamp down the American's efforts.
Tiafoe posted 63 winners with Dimitrov weighing in with 59. Their unforced error count was also high as both risked everything on court: Tiafoe posted 54 unforced errors and Dimitrov 43.
Tiafoe had a trainer on the court a couple of times during the match, but they just seemed to have a discussion. In the end, Tiafoe said he was hoping not to cramp.
During his post-match news conference he commented on how he began feeling poorly during the third set.
“Trying to stay alive, man. Trying to stay alive,” he said. “Third set, I had the break, but started to feel my body….I was downing pickle juice, having that like Kool-Aid.
“I’m taking it straight up, straight up. Just downing it. Tasted terrible. Feeling terrible right now.”
Apparently drinking pickle to rehydrate is not known around the world because many of the non-American journalists were inquiring what Tiafoe was talking about, then cringed at the explanation.
Tiafoe will play second-seeded Rafael Nadal for the first time in the quarterfinals. Nadal earned his spot in the next round with a 6-0, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Told on the court that he was most likely looking to play Nadal, a 17-time Grand Slam champion, Tiafoe still had enough energy remaining to joke around.
“If I can play him in the quarterfinals of a Slam, he better get ready,” he said, smiling. “But I better to go to bed now.”
Follow Sandra Harwitt on Twitter @TennisGrapevine.
