Frances Tiafoe reveals why his parents made him take up tennis: "They were only doing that to get me to not be in our neighborhood after school"
Frances Tiafoe revealed that his parents and uncanny circumstances during his childhood played a huge part in the American's journey to becoming a professional tennis player.
The World No. 19 was born and raised in Hyattsville to parents who hailed from Sierra Leone. As they were afraid to leave Tiafoe and his twin brother alone at home, their father used to take his children to the neighboring tennis academy. Their father was part of the construction team that built the academy property and later became the head of maintenance, which meant Tiafoe and his brother could play in the academy for free.
During a recent conversation with The Old Man And The Three podcast, the 2018 Delray Beach Open champion shared his backstory and opened up on the journey of becoming a tennis player.
"My dad helped build a tennis academy. Once the tennis academy was built, he became the head maintenance guy. My dad lived at the tennis center. So, with all those kind of things, it allowed me and my twin brother to be there for free," Frances Tiafoe said.
The 25-year-old recalled the circumstances back in the days as "funny" as he divulged that his parents made him take up tennis only because they did not want their children to be alone in their neighborhood when they went to work.
"Honestly, it's funny that we've been doing all these cause they were only doing that to get me to tennis center, to not be in our neighborhood after school and kind of just be in a good environment," he asserted.
"I got to get up and play tennis in the morning, I got lucky" - Frances Tiafoes on his family's struggles during his childhood
Despite growing up in difficult circumstances, Frances Tiafoe was a happy kid during his childhood. The American stated that he knew very little about his family's suffering during the early days of his life and that he was just thrilled about getting up each day to play tennis with his brother.
"People ask me all the time, 'it must have been tough.' As a kid, like 'was it?,' you don't know anything else. It's not foreign. You hear it and you're like, 'man that's wild.' And I was like, I got to get up and play tennis in the morning and I got lucky," he stated.
While things looked bright on one side, the 2022 US Open semifinalist also opened up about the hardships he and his brother had to endure.
"When we stayed with my dad, he had his own room like in the corner offices and he'd be working through the night. Me and my brother would stay there, we would sleep on a massage table," he expressed.