Melbourne — An emotional Frances Tiafoe said on Sunday he has already changed his parents’ lives and now he is motivated to do the “same for me” ahead of a quar-terfinal with Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. The American celebrated his 21st birthday by beating 20th seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets and then broke down as he revealed how he had supported his mother and father, immigrants from Sierra Leone. “It means the world,” said a tearful Tiafoe, voice cracking, after stunning the Bulgarian 7-5 7-6 (8/6) 6-7 (1/7) 7-5. “I worked my ass off, man. I told my parents 10 years ago I was gonna be a pro tennis player and change their life.” World No39 Tiafoe described his unusual path to the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time in his fledgling career. “Obviously I wasn’t a normal tennis story,” he told reporters. “The beginning of my career, I was playing for them, trying to do everything for my family.” He described how at the age of 19 he managed to turn around things fo...
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