AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2026

Frances Tiafoe

Press Conference

F. TIAFOE/F. Comesana

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

THE MODERATOR: Happy belated birthday, Frances.

Q. How was the match for you, besides what you didn't know what was going on about?

FRANCES TIAFOE: It was good. I thought I played a really high level tonight. After the little break at 2-all, thought I did a good job picking up my level and played really well tonight.

I got to tip my hat off. He did a great job of extending it to a fourth set. I thought I played a really good fourth set. So really happy with it.

Q. We heard you on court. You're likely going to be in the big house, maybe Friday. Tell me the experience playing against Alex. You've played four times in the past so you know about him what's that going to be like having the Australian fans cheering him on.

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean as far as a player, I've known him for a while, known him for a long time. Him and me, we've played since we came on the scene. Got in the top 100 kind of around the same time.

Yeah, I mean, seen him around for years. And now we're, you know, the older guys on the tour. And now we're playing big matches against each other.

Earlier than for both of us that we would like, but I'm happy to play against him. It's going to be fun. Against all these fans. I love playing on the big courts. And now is where the event really gets going. Only tough and good matched ahead. And you have to rise to the occasion. He's going to come for me, I'm going to come for him. Yeah, tennis is going to get their money's worth.

Q. I think you mention the speed of your opponent tonight. Do you think that set you up well to go against Alex?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's a great, yeah, I mean it's a great test before playing de Mi because you have to one extra shot. Going to make you earn it. You think you hit a winner, no. You got to hit the lob or whatever the case may be.

It's going to be great, man. Going to be great to play against him. Yeah, we've had some battles in the past, so I'm ready for another.

Q. You mentioned you had some Aussies in your corner in your team. Who are they?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Oh yeah, Marco, my coach's friend. My physio, he's Australian. So, yeah, so it's great. So hopefully I get some Aussie love as well.

Look, I always have fun playing here. Aussie fans are great, showing me a ton of love out here. Of course they want to get behind their guy, and rightfully so. I am going to come out there with a ton of energy on Friday.

Q. I want to ask about the group American dinner you guys did on the eve of the tournament?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I didn't make the cut.

Q. You weren't...

FRANCES TIAFOE: Of course, I was invited to it. I played on Sunday. My mom was here. If I played on Monday I would have went.

Q. I'm curious what that occasion is like for you without being at this one. You know the routine?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, yeah.

Q. It is a cool thing to have.

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of us now. I mean, there's like, you know, 14, 15 guys in the top 100. They get in. And this is fun. You get guys together especially this time of the year.

Normally we do it at the Davis Cups. Bob likes to get us all together. It's hard, but... This one we've done for the last few years. It's nice to get all the guys together to talk, talk, you know, say anything, people just having fun. Not talking about tennis much. Everyone getting out of their comfort zone. So it's great.

Great to have that kind of camaraderie before the event starts. And it's fun, you know, having credit card roulette at the end.

Q. Have you ever lost?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I haven't, no. I haven't lost yet.

Q. Do you feel bad for people that do?

FRANCES TIAFOE: No, not at all. You're making money out here, you will be all right. EQ lost his last one. Hence why he got Griekspoor out of the way. He needed to recoup that. So that's good.

Q. Can you tell us what Mark has brought to your game?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, he's always bringing a ton of just, you know, hard cap mentality. I mean, that's kind of the biggest thing. Just kind of all around.

I mean, he's really big and super optimistic. Getting better with everything. Obviously he's great with, you know, mechanics, with the serve, and also with his Ph.D. for science.

And with movement, my movement is getting much cleaner. But, I mean, the biggest thing is he doesn't let anything fly. Any little opportunity to get better. He'll see I missed a couple easy volleys out there today, and now I'm out there hitting volleys and he's not.

He's very, What can we do to get better? We got to win today, every day, no matter what. So yeah, he's annoying at times, but something I really need, something I really need right now who's not going to let me kind of be relaxed every day. I got to show up and meet the standard every day. It's been awesome. And I'm happy to see what '26 looks like with him in my corner.