AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2026

Frances Tiafoe

Press Conference

F. TIAFOE/J. Kubler

7-6, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Frances Tiafoe. First of all, congrats, Frances. How does it feel to get the first-round win under your belt?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, always feels good to get a first-round win obviously. More comfortable than I had it last year. Definitely take that. Tough first set. Got lucky. Saved a couple of set points.

Yeah, overall I liked the way I played. I thought it was a pretty decent first round for me, pretty good performance.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I was wondering if you would be able to talk about the colors that you wore today, the Sierra Leone flag and how you felt out there on the court?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Again, it means a lot to me. It meant the world to me. Gives you a little extra motivation, a little extra spark. Kind of like I can come out there and really compete.

But it felt good. The outfit was amazing. Shout-out Lululemon. What an amazing job. Again, a massive surprise. I wasn't expecting it. Did a photo shoot in the offseason. I was like, Are these Sierra Leone colors? What are we doing?

Yeah, no, it feels great to rock it. And obviously having my mom here is super, super cool. She's loving that. Yeah, it hits a lot of people, for sure. The whole Maryland area, there's a ton of people from Sierra Leone, so it's awesome.

Q. Did it surprise you with the Washington colors last summer? Did you know that was coming too?

FRANCES TIAFOE: That was I was, like, We're doing that. That's non-negotiable. We're doing that.

Q. What did you tell yourself before this match? We were talking the other day, you were talking about quotes and stuff like that. I'm curious, what were the things running through your head before this match?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean, for me, a scary amount of gratitude coming out there to be able to play. You know, I haven't played that many matches. Obviously Brisbane, tough draw. You come out 250 with Medvedev second round. Haven't come from many matches.

Again, high-level gratitude. To go out there and just be you, yeah. I can just be in the present. There's so much peace in the present, so yeah.

Q. In general, we don't see many people representing Sierra Leone in the bigger stages of sports. I'm curious, just in general what it means to you to be kind of that reference for people?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah. I mean, look, I'm Maryland born and raised, but Sierra Leone rooted to the max. I'm very much African brought up. My parents weren't playing them games. Hard-working. You got to get it. Everything you get, you earn it. High-level discipline and respect.

But to be able to give back to the country, man, you know, because I have a ton of fans out there. I haven't even been there since I was 8 years old. I get tagged in all these Sierra Leone things and what have you.

Kids in the country is watching me play. Tiafoe name actually means something in Sierra Leone. So it's awesome to rep them on the biggest stages and how much my parents love where they're from and appreciate it. Came out from crazy times, civil war and everything, and being able to come to the States.

For me now to kind of represent it and show love to the country that they love so much means a lot to me.

Q. There are a fair number of Americans in the draw. The most here, men and women, in almost 30 years. Just wondering, you kind of came at an age when American men were not winning Grand Slams. Do you feel like that pressure has lessened over time because the gap is so long?

FRANCES TIAFOE: No, not at all. But again, I still don't think it's a pressure thing. Again, I've played Ben in the quarters of a slam. Me and Fritz played in the semis. Fritz made a final. Ben made semis here. Like, Tommy has made semis.

You know, the last few years you have a couple of guys winning Grand Slams. Before that you had four guys winning Grand Slams. Again, it's not a country thing.

But again, we would love to, and I spend time with Andy, and Andy would love to not be in that topic of conversation, since Andy, since Andy, whatever.

But we will see, man. It's a great group. We all do a lot of great things. Hopefully we can get it done.

Q. Your former doubles partner is on court now, Venus Williams. What are your thoughts about her and what she's doing and seeing her out here still being competitive? Not just participating, but still potentially winning matches.

FRANCES TIAFOE: It feels good to feel good. It feels good to feel good. I talked to her, man. She's, like, Look, I feel good.

Obviously she had some illnesses, some sickness. You know, she wants to go out, she goes on her own terms. Whenever that is, it doesn't matter. She packs arenas. Venus Williams, she wants to go play, great.

And she's playing. I mean, she beat Peyton Stearns in D.C. She's out here, like, battling Muchova at the Open. At 45 is like grinding these girls. It's not she's out here getting snips. It is like, Why not?

She just got married. Her husband out here traveling. She ain't missing nothing. She's got cheese. So, I mean, who cares? If you want to do it, go do it. Hats off to her, man. It's inspiring.

I will not be doing that at 45 (laughing). But you never know. It is inspiring to still see a legend like that come out here and want to do it and want to train and want to still get better.

Yeah, high-level respect. That respect for me goes back to, I mean, years and years. Words can't describe what the Williams sisters mean to me.

Q. One of the unique things about tennis is that you share a locker room with the people you face. I know you are on good terms with a lot of the guys, but is it ever awkward? Are there any situations where it is awkward after a loss or after you win and you are in the same space as these people?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, it's just part of it, right? There's so much normality in it. I think it is strange.

But, I mean, I talk to guys before I play them. If we're, like, in the same locker room or around each other, I ain't going to be, like, Oh, I'm playing you, we're not talking, because there's going to be a couple of hours when we get out there and we ain't talking. It don't really matter.

I'm not doing the most, but if we see him, especially if I'm cool with the guy, I'll have a conversation with you. You know, I was playing with Vukic last week, and I was really close with his coach, Brad Dancer, in Illinois. We sitting there, and I was asking him how his coach is, do you still go to State to practice? We were going on in minutes.

It has no affect on really how the match is going to turn out, because once you get on the court, it's kill or be killed. Before that, it doesn't really matter.

Q. Is that a unique level of chill you have, or is that every guy?

FRANCES TIAFOE: No, no. I think that's just me. A lot of guys... But everyone operates different. There's no harm in it. Some guys are not going to look you in the eye.

If I'm going to play Carlos, me and Carlos will dab each other, hug each other before we go out there, like, Let's have fun out there. Even after the coin toss, we'll probably do the same thing.

Then you have other guys where it's like they're staring me down, and I'm staring them down. It's a personality thing, a person thing, and relationship.

Q. Speaking of Americans, Michael Zheng had a pretty big win.

FRANCES TIAFOE: Did he win?

Q. Yeah, he won. Do you know him? He's a senior at Columbia.

FRANCES TIAFOE: I've been calling him Ivy's Finest. The whole thing is hilarious to me.

By the way, love Mike. Mike is just funny, man. He's so chill and relaxed about the whole thing, because you got to think from his lens. The guy has got zero pressure, and he's good. He's just a good player. I practiced with him one time last offseason, not this one. We had an absolute battle.

He's telling me, he's like, Yeah, school starts in a week. The guy qualified, and now he's beating Korda. It doesn't make any sense. He's playing the NCAAs. The guy is... It's crazy.

But he shows how good college tennis is going, right? Korda has been one of the best Americans for a long time. He comes in here and beats him. It's like, whoa, that's crazy. I saw they were in the fifth. I didn't know he won.

Shout-out him. Shout-out Columbia, man. Hopefully he stays in college and doesn't continue to take out all the Americans. Stay in college for as long as you want, bro.

Q. It's his last semester.

FRANCES TIAFOE: I know. I know. He's going to be out very soon. I know.

Q. Can you imagine balancing those two things?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Hell no. Hell no. He goes to Columbia. I mean, it's not like... I mean, the dude is, like, damn near a genius probably.

But again, everyone has a different route. But hats off to him coming out here qualifying, doing the thing, and God knows, hopefully he keeps going. Then he's back to the books. It's great.