AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2026

Eliot Spizzirri

Press Conference

E. SPIZZIRRI/Y. Wu

6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Eliot, an incredibly tough match out there today, but you must be happy with the win.

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: Yeah, yeah, it was a battle. I knew it was going to be a battle. He's obviously a tremendous player. Both sides, big weapons. A shot-maker.

Yeah, I knew I was going to have to bring my best. Didn't know how long it was going to be, of course. But just happy to get through.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How much of a sort of achievement unlock does it feel like to win a five-setter hanging on to make the third round of a slam?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: You never know how your body is going to react in a five-setter. I just wanted to get into that scenario to feel what it's like.

Even though I lost the fourth set, I was sort of like this is cool, at least I can play a five-setter and say I played a five-setter.

So, yeah, I mean, I was happy with how my body felt. And yeah, of course, you know you're almost like so tired at the end of it that you don't really know what to feel. But of course it's a lot better to be on the winning side of things.

Q. About just being these college players who are doing so well and, you know, curious if you think there's any particular unifying characteristics that college players bring to this tour compared with guys who have immediately gone pro?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: I think for the most part it's just a great group of guys. There's really good camaraderie amongst us. I feel like we genuinely want each other to win. And so when I see other college guys do well, it gives me confidence. And I think the other guys say the same.

But in terms of characteristics everyone's genuine, authentic, hard-working, tough, selfless. They've kind of done it all, just because you've been in a team environment for so long.

Yeah, I think I heard Ben talk about it a little bit, and I completely agree with his comments.

Q. Why? And why do you think now you guys are all doing so well? It wasn't happening 10 years ago.

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: I don't know. The level has gotten higher in college. I don't know exactly why it is. Maybe good coaching. The resources are unbelievable. When I went to college I was told myself, Listen I'm getting top 10, 20 in the world level resources for four years as a 17-, 18-year-old. So you really do have the chance to, I guess, maximize your potential.

I don't know if guys looked at it like that 10, 15 or 20 years ago, but I certainly think guys look at it like a stepping stone to the pro tour. Not like, Oh, I'm going to college, that means I'll get a job after. That's not tennis, of course.

Q. You've had an idea in your head in April last year of a kind of structure. You said you kind of need to graduate from different levels. We were talking about challengers versus playing 250s at that stretch last year. Where do you think you are in that progression at this stage in terms of what level and why you wanted to go through a little bit more of a deliberate phase through 2025?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: Yeah, I never wanted to cheat levels. That was something that my coach and I talked about a lot, is sometimes you can get opportunities to go into higher-level events.

For me, the way I wanted to do it when I turned pro was win futures, win challengers, and then take the next step, like we talked about.

So I think that just gives me more confidence. I never wanted to go into a match maybe feeling like a complete impostor. I think if you do it that way, it does build confidence. You also you learn how to win, and you learn how to win matches where you're expected to win, where you're maybe not expected to win.

So, I think, sort of going through the process, you know, going through each level teaches you how to be tough and how to deal with so many different scenarios that happen and come up as a professional tennis player.

I don't know exactly where I'm at. I told my coach 30 minutes ago at least I can pull out a San Diego challenger now because I got another match to play. I'm supposed to play that on Monday or Tuesday.

I forget who I was talking to about it, but I don't think you're safe out of challengers until you're 75 in the world, just the way the system works. At least for me, I feel like I would probably be playing challengers until I was top 75 and into most ATP if not all ATP events. That's how I looked at it.

I went through futures. And then when I was getting into challenger main draws, I started doing that. And so hopefully, you know, we'll keep taking steps.

Q. With all the headlines coming out back from the US, I've been asking American players how they feel living under the second Trump administration. I'm curious how you feel about it.

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: Yeah, I mean, I'm not really going to talk politics here. I'm here to play tennis and to finish a five-set match.

But for me as an American, it is an honor to play the country and represent the flag. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Q. I wanted to ask about your possible next opponent and whoever that could be. Also has Italian roots, Jannik Sinner. What would that be like and what are you most interested playing Sinner at the Australian Open?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: Yeah, I mean James is fighting.

Q. We can ask for him next. Look at Sinner first.

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: Yeah, I'm friends with James, so I want to cut him some slack here.

Yeah, if I was going to play Jannik, that would be a ton of fun. I think you said he's Italian. I'm not Italian, but my last name is Italian. So I guess I have roots in Italy.

But it would be an awesome experience. I mean going against one of the best players in the world and one of the toughest challengers in our sport. I would be grateful to be out there and do the best I can.

Q. If you're playing Duckworth, what would that be like and how if he have just beaten Sinner?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: He would have played some of the best tennis in his life probably (laughter). I guess he was the last Aussie to beat Sinner, he beat him in a challenger or something years ago. Someone said that this morning. So does he have a 1-0 record against Sinner?

Q. Possibly.

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: We will see. If I played Jannik or James, the biggest thing that would change is probably the court we're playing on. That is about it.

Q. Just curious about your own perception, you had a lot of time to think about it, your own journey to get to this point, this breakthrough moment for you, and curious the end of the match it didn't look like he was enjoying the end of the match in the fifth set as much as you were. It was a kind of weird end there.

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: Yeah, I mean, it's never great when one of the opponent's cramping. You know, I'm not one to celebrate too crazy to begin with, but especially in that circumstance I just felt, you know, bad that he was cramping. So I didn't want to, you know, come off as disrespectful. So I tried to be a little more subdued with my reaction.

Yeah, it's still never easy closing a match out especially, you know, in that fashion where you are in a fifth set, even though the other guy is cramping. So I was proud of that.

But, yeah, I'm certainly happy about the win. But at the same time, you know, feel bad for him that he wasn't able to stay physically fit the entire time. That's the nature of the sport, it happens.

In terms of my journey, yeah, it's been a long road. Been a very fun one. I'm pretty grateful to be doing this. Just excited for the next steps and to keep learning and going through these experiences and trying to just improve my game.

Q. We've seen some huge performances from Americans so far this tournament. What's the vibe been like in the locker room and is there something different that you guys are trying this year?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: I don't think so. We had a great pre-season. A lot of the Americans were in Delray Beach together. The vibe is always great amongst the Americans. It's always fun, we're always laughing, joking amongst each other.

Yeah, similar to the question about college guys, I think everyone wants each other to win. There's a great group of guys. I think the older guys, at least for me, from my experience, I can say that the older guys have been very genuine in the way that they help us younger guys and maybe, quote-unquote, mentor us, or at least give us advice.

So, yeah, that's been very meaningful for me and I think that's the reason why maybe some of the young Americans are doing better because they have the older guys to look up to maybe pave the way a little bit.

Q. Anyone in particular that's mentored you?

ELIOT SPIZZIRRI: I've spoken a lot to James Blake. Some coaches, Brian Barker is a big mentor of mine. I hit with Tommy a bunch. And Brad Stine.

So those are some names that pop out as guys that have really helped me a ton and mean a lot to me. Yeah, just help me on this journey.