Constant Tiafoe Is Frances Tiafoe’s Tennis-Loving Dad – Facts about Him

Through perseverance and consistent diligence, proud tennis dad Constant Tiafoe, also known as Frances Tiafoe Sr., gave both his sons an early start in tennis, though only one pursued it professionally.

Frances Tiafoe’s father, Constant Tiafoe, was born Frances Tiafoe, but he went by Constant Zubairu when he left Sierra Leone for London in 1988. He then moved and settled in Maryland in 1993.

Six years later, he signed up as a day worker to help construct the Washington region’s tennis training facility, the Junior Tennis Champions Center. The facility’s founder, Ken Brody, said Constant set himself apart from the rest of the crew.

He applied himself and worked quickly to do whatever tasks were at hand. Brody recognized his diligence and offered him a position as the center’s maintenance man. Constant worked around the clock, keeping the center clean during the day and maintaining the clay courts at night.

By then, he was already a father of twin boys with his wife, Alphina Kamara. Although he had never played tennis, he developed a passion for the sport, as did his sons, Franklin and Frances Tiafoe Jr., but more so, Frances Jr.

Constant and Alphina met in Maryland a few years after Constant moved to the state. They married in 2013, 15 years after welcoming their boys. When Constant became the maintenance man, he had a makeshift apartment within the training facility.

There, he looked after his sons whenever his wife, a licensed nurse practitioner, worked night shifts. Now and then, Franklin and Frances Jr. would also spend time with club members while Constant worked.

He enrolled them at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, free of charge, when they were five. They both loved playing tennis, but Frances’ passion for it grew more fierce. “Franklin just wanted to play. He didn’t take it seriously. He just wasn’t too interested,” Constant remarked.

Constant left the Junior Tennis Champions Center after over a decade and attempted to establish his own business but was unsuccessful. In 2014, he worked at a Hyattsville car wash and had several debts in his name.

He, Alphina, and their sons lived in a Riverdale apartment and sometimes struggled to pay rent. They owned one car, primarily used by Alphina to go to work, while Constant used his bike.

At the time, they couldn’t afford to travel to see Frances play and could only watch him online. Although Alphina was satisfied to see her son happy when he returned home with trophies, Constant still found it difficult to accept.

“When your kid is top in the nation, top in the world, maybe, and you don’t have the opportunity to sit there, it’s tough. But I let that go because there is time for everything,” he said, adding that he was grateful for the opportunities the training center afforded Frances.

However, in addition to his son’s athletic success, Constant still saw the importance of education. “The education has got to be there. When money comes, that’s when people come, too. Managers, advisers. So you should be able to tell them what to do,” he noted.