{"id":598113,"date":"2026-09-12T12:54:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/598113\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T12:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:54:28","slug":"who-are-frances-tiafoes-parents-alphina-and-frances-tiafoe-sr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/598113\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are Frances Tiafoe\u2019s Parents, Alphina and Frances Tiafoe Sr.?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated3 min read<\/p>\n

Frances Tiafoe grew up in College Park, Maryland, the son of two immigrants from Sierra Leone who came to the United States in the 1990s to escape a civil war. His father worked maintenance at a local tennis center, while his mother worked night shifts as a nurse. Together, they built a life that made Frances\u2019s career possible. Now one of the most recognizable players in American tennis, Frances has reached a career-high ranking of world No. 10<\/a>, three U.S. Open semifinals, and a French Open quarterfinal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below, get to know Frances Tiafoe\u2019s parents, Alphina and Frances Tiafoe Sr.<\/p>\n

Meet Frances\u2019s mom, Alphina:\"TENNIS-AUS-OPEN\"DAVID GRAY\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Alphina (Center) at the 2026 Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Alphina Tiafoe (n\u00e9e Kamara) was born in Sierra Leone and came to the United States in 1996 after winning a green card lottery, leaving behind a country in the grip of civil war. Alphina met Frances Sr. after she settled in Maryland. In 1998, the couple had twin boys: Frances Jr. and Franklin. She built a career as a nurse practitioner, working long hours and often overnight shifts to help keep the family stable while her husband worked at the tennis center. In a 2020 essay for The Player\u2019s Tribute, titled \u201cNurse Mom<\/a>,\u201d Tiafoe explained at length about the impression her work ethic left on him.<\/p>\n

\"2024Sarah Stier\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Alphina at the 2024 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat \u2018zone\u2019 that I have to get into when I’m down a set or something like that? That exists for my mom when things are getting chaotic in the nursing home and you need a calm head to make decisions that, in the end, are way more important than a tennis match,\u201d he wrote. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, he asked her to stay home. She went to work anyway. \u201cBecause she loves to work,\u201d Frances wrote. \u201cBecause she and Dad don\u2019t really know the meaning of a break. Because they got your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meet Frances\u2019s dad, Frances Sr.:\"DelrayPeter Staples\/ATP Tour\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Frances with his father after winning his first ATP title in 2018.<\/p>\n

Constant Tiafoe, known as Frances Sr., emigrated from Sierra Leone to the United States in 1993. Per Tennis.com<\/a>, he came from a relatively well-off family back home, but started over in Maryland, eventually finding work in 1999 as a day laborer on the construction crew building the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. When the facility was finished, he was hired as its head of maintenance and given a spare office on-site to live in, a roof over his head that also gave his sons a world. Frances and Franklin spent a lot of time at the tennis center with their father for most of their early childhood, picking up trash, sweeping courts, and eventually picking up rackets. On nights when their mother was working, their father slept on the massage table so the boys could have the couches.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad always loved tennis, and he worked around the clock at the JTCC so he could keep that job, and so Franklin and I could have a place to play the game we\u2019d fallen in love with,\u201d Frances wrote about his father in The Player\u2019s Tribune. \u201cI realize now how hard he worked, and how much he sacrificed, to allow my brother and me to chase our dreams and have the life he and my mom wanted us to have\u2014the one they couldn\u2019t have in Sierra Leone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sixteen-year-oldThe Washington Post\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Frances and Frances Sr. at a benefit for the JTCC in 2016.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Frances launched a $250,000 fund in his own name<\/a> in conjunction with the USTA Foundation, the charitable arm of the sport\u2019s national federation. Now having surpassed $1 million in total funds raised to date, the fund supports youth tennis, education, and mentorship in under-resourced communities. Frances first announced the scholarship program at the JTCC, with his parents beside him, and gave $50,000 directly back to the facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve wanted to do this for a long time. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve always been passionate about. I love people. I love helping people,\u201d Frances said at the time<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m a product of this place. I’m a guy who was given a chance\u2014who wouldn’t have really had one\u2014and look what I was able to do with it. I feel like more people need to be given that, especially in this area, and especially people who look like me. I know how much influence I have in this area, so I\u2019m happy to start it here in D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rachel King (she\/her) is a news writer at\u00a0Town & Country. Before joining\u00a0T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at\u00a0Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in\u00a0Forbes,\u00a0Observer,\u00a0Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and\u00a0Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at\u00a0@rk.passport<\/a>.<\/p>\n