ROLAND GARROS

June 3, 2025

Frances Tiafoe

Press Conference

L. MUSETTI/F. Tiafoe

6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Tough luck today, Frances. Still a great run for your first quarterfinal here at the French. What do you think made the difference in the end?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Obviously it was tough conditions today. No question about it. I think ultimately he was more willing to kind of just hang in there, hang tough. A lot of junk shots today. He defended incredible with some high balls that always landed in, never could go just out.

Yeah, he was just tougher in the winning-ugly department, because it wasn't going to be clean from either of us. It was really, really windy and tough conditions, and he was more willing to do that today than I was.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. In general, this is obviously a great run reaching the quarters without dropping a set, how do you reflect on how you performed this tournament and how you take it forward from here?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Oh, yeah, I mean, I was super happy with how I performed, obviously. Not today, but super happy with how I performed leading up to this.

I mean, I was in a great rhythm in Lenglen, and one outside court I played on I played great. The way I was playing is definitely going to translate to going forward and going on grass and stuff. I was playing fast. I was coming in. I was super sharp. I was having a great time also, battling at a really high clip.

So I'm really happy with those. As a competitor, you want more, and today was tough, but hopefully that catapults me, and I can just use that as confidence and keep running with that momentum. I can't get satisfied and get too much on a high horse, because I know I definitely am still capable of more, so...

Q. I just wanted to ask you about the incident in the second set when Musetti kicked a ball, and it hit a line judge. These are always strange incidents in tennis. I wondered what your view was on that and what it's like for you on the other side of the court. Maybe it's going through your head that this could be a potential default situation? It must be strange.

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean, obviously he did that and nothing happened. I think that's comical, but it is what it is. Nothing happened, so there's nothing really to talk about. Obviously it's not consistent, so it is what it is.

Q. You touched on this a moment ago, but the idea of seeing this kind of run on this surface and then moving to something you like a lot better on the grass, and you talked about getting confidence, but does it also make you have higher hopes, I guess, and expectations for what you can accomplish in this next part of the season?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah. I mean, just winning matches in general -- I think surface is kind of irrelevant -- I think winning matches in general just gives you confidence and winning matches in the biggest tournaments.

It seems that the last few years I get most of my wins in majors. I'm happy it happened here, but I mean, I just want to win at the biggest stages. So, you know, where it came, surface, it's not like -- I'm not looking at this like, Oh, I'm playing on house money, it's on clay.

I mean, once you get going deep, it's like funnily anything can happen. Kind of just want to learn from this, but yeah, hopefully this just pushes me to go for a good run hopefully at Wimbledon.

Q. In the third set, every time you put the first serve in, you made the point. 12 points out of 12, the first serve. But on the 12th game when you lost your serve, you never put a first serve in. Do you think that was tension? There was some particular reason you think that you were more maybe nervous, because, of course, it was an important moment? In the third set, do you consider that as a decisive since Musetti, in the fourth, played much, much better because he was probably relaxed while you were probably more nervous?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean, you're down 5-6, probably rushing a little bit. You know, you maybe a little ahead of yourself already thinking you're in the breaker. I rushed every serve there. I wasn't fluid in my serve, and he did a good job making me pay.

In the fourth, I helped him out a little bit there. My first opening service game is loose errors, and then he kind of ran with it.

I mean, probably it's a rhythm thing and getting a little ahead of myself, thinking about the breaker, and that's probably the lack of first serves at 5-6. The fourth, I helped him out there a little bit, and then, yeah, he opened up his shoulders and started playing better, going for more shots. He's up a break and serving well, hitting some lines, so yeah.

Q. Something you've talked about before, struggles you've had after a great run at a tournament, a big tournament, sort of following it and staying with momentum, have you learned, do you think, after the various deep slam runs you've had at this point how to pick up where you left off at wherever the next week may be and not let the momentum cool off too fast?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I think it will be easy this time around, right, because the last few years my deep slam run is the Open. After that, I mean, it is what it is after that (laughing).

Obviously I have big events that I want to do well at: Queen's, Wimbledon. When I get back to the States, I play at home. I really want to do well. I have the US Open, Toronto, Cincy, Cincy where I made the final. So I'm nowhere near comfortable nor satisfied.

There's a lot of opportunity to go ahead. This is great. It's not what we all wanted in the end, my team and I. But now it's like go, get some rest, turn the page, and now we try to get one of those.

There's a lot of huge opportunity in places where I can play great and very, very dangerous. So I think it will be easy this time around.

Q. Going home?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I'll figure it out. Possibly, though. Probably will.

Q. I don't know if you have had a look at any replays, but I imagine you're looking forward to getting back to electronic line calling?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Oh, God, yeah. That would be nice.

Q. Have you looked at the replay? Have you seen it?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I was told. I was told about that, which I also saw it in real time. Yeah, I mean, it's okay. Look, it happened. I ended up winning the point anyway, but yeah.

Q. Frances, well played in the tournament. Does this experience, though it's tough to lose today, give you a bit of a lift, especially coming back here in the future now knowing you can do what you did in those last four rounds, play well here? Also, does it kick-start maybe the season, the fact that you problem-solved and had that moment cracking the racquet in practice and were able to turn things around on a dime like that?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I think it was crucial, especially in the time it was. Last bunch of clay court seasons have kind of just been an eye-roll situation. Like, Oh, man, this is like just kind of watching paint dry. Can't wait for the season to pass.

Now, to be able to make quarterfinal slams, gonna probably change the way I approach it next year, this season in general. And obviously, I'll be coming here ready to play, for sure, next year. So I'm really happy about that.

But, yeah, going forward I'm super excited now. I'm going to go back and train and be amped up. I got momentum and use that, man. Don't get comfortable.

I still haven't scratched the surface generally. I've had some good runs and that's cool, but I really feel like I can really be at the end of these type tournaments. I haven't done it yet, and that's what's going to keep me going and keep me excited to do more.