American showman Frances Tiafoe has celebrated his 21st birthday in style with an emotional four-set win over Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open, setting up a dream quarter-final against Rafael Nadal.
Tiafoe overcame a third-set blip to beat the Bulgarian No.20 seed 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (1-7) 7-5 on Sunday and celebrated in his trademark style, screaming loudly and slapping his chest and the court in delight.
“It means the world – I’ve busted my arse man,” he said.
“I told my parents 10 years ago was going to be a pro … that I was going to do this and change their lives.”
The reward is a last-eight showdown on Tuesday with 17-times major winner Nadal, who trounced Czech veteran Tomas Berdych 6-0 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in the fourth round.
“I can’t do anything (to celebrate my birthday tonight) – he’s going to run me like crazy,” said Tiafoe.
“(But) he’d better be ready.”
The 2019 Open has been a grand slam coming of age for Tiafoe, who had only won five of his previous 16 matches at major level.
Nadal won his sole Australian Open title a decade ago and has been a losing finalist at Melbourne Park on three other occasions.
He breezed through the opening two sets of his fourth-round clash against Berdych but had to work much harder in the third, saving a set point in the 12th game before clinching the match in a tiebreak.
Berdych, a two-time semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 2014 and 2015, spent six months on the sidelines last year with a back injury.
Nadal is also on the comeback trail, playing his first official tournament since withdrawing midway through his US Open semi-final back in September with knee soreness.