‘My Mom Actively Did Not Want Me to Play’ – Frances Tiafoe Once Opened Up About His Immigrant Parents’ Struggles on Derek Jeter’s Media Platform

Back in 2017, Frances Tiafoe made a big revelation about his parents opposing him from playing the sport. The tennis star has made his name in the tennis world today. And seeing his play this year, his parents won’t regret letting him play after all the struggles he went through to rise up in the sport. 

Recently, in the past two months, the American tennis player has significantly enhanced his reputation on the ATP Tour. He reached the US Open semi-finals, defeating Nadal in the process, and later reached the final in the Tokyo Open.

Tiafoe’s mother never wanted him to play tennis

The American tennis star, Tiafoe, penned an essay in the Players’ Tribune in 2017. Through the essay, he was talking about his early life story, focusing on how his immigrant parents never wanted him to play tennis but to go to college and get a degree. The Players’ Tribune is the brainchild of Derek Jeter, the basketball legend. After ending his two-decades-long basketball career, Jeter started his own media outlet that was an athlete-based network. 

In the essay, Tiafoe wrote, “My dad has always been supportive, but he was laughing, too. My mom actively did not want me to play professionally. She and I fought about the decision for years, even after I turned pro and started making a little money — all she wanted for me and Franklin was for us to go to college, and I had earned my ticket anywhere I wanted to go.”

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Turning pro could have been a disaster for Frances Tiafoe

The struggle his parents have faced as immigrants was always on the back of his mind, even while playing at the highest level. He further stated, in the essay, how every player back in 2017 that played against him was well off and never had to worry about money. 

After turning pro and realizing that some players never worried about money worried the 24-year-old US Open semifinalist. But rather than feeling bad for himself, he chose to fight for his place on the tennis court.

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In the same essay, he further detailed how he can only control how hard he is working on something rather than focusing on others’ situation. For him, tennis was a way to help his family and community in his own way.