US OPEN

September 12, 2026

Frances Tiafoe

Press Conference

B. SHELTON/F. Tiafoe

4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Frances, great run. Questions.

Q. Tough loss out there. Tough match out there. Just curious, I know you came in here -- you're obviously not pleased with the result, but you came in here laughing a little bit. I'm curious, what did your team and you talk about after the match? What was that whole process like after you walked off the court?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, obviously it's a tough one. It's hard. I mean, it was a look at it. Obviously I've been in the position a lot now thankfully, but also it's tough, right? You know, I wanted to be in a Grand Slam final obviously. It was a big match.

I've got to give it to Ben. Played well. Played well tonight. Served really well tonight, which made it really tough for me, and I didn't serve great.

So, you know, I was just trying to hang in there on my service games, but ultimately we didn't say much. Because at the same time, it's like it's been a great season for me, but also, you know, this one is tough.

We wanted to win this one. You know, it's just the last couple of weeks, it's been great weeks, but haven't been able to finish, and that's probably going to be the next thing for me.

Q. Bad luck. I'll ask you something similar, but given the way you've performed all year and the consistency you've had, do you leave here feeling like you can get back to this stage, like you're more confident that you can get back to this stage again than in previous years?

FRANCES TIAFOE: You never want to be too confident you can get back to it, but I feel pretty confident I can get back to it, for sure.

I'm just happy with how I've been doing and how I've been showing up every week. Obviously I had a little blip outside of being -- just having a little wrist thing. Outside of that, I've been showing up every week, which is something I really wanted to do and something I was happy about doing.

Obviously, I mean, I was doing my interview here last year, and it was really, really bad how I felt where I was at. It's hard, man. I'm upset, but I'm at the same time so proud of myself of where I've been.

I was happy to even be able to play tonight. I was in a position where I definitely shouldn't have been playing tonight.

But, you know, ultimately I want to do the thing, man. I want to be a Grand Slam champion one day and just get back to the drawing board and keep working.

Q. (Off microphone.)

FRANCES TIAFOE: No, I'm good now. I'm okay. I mean, I got kinks, but I'm okay.

Q. I imagine even in defeat you can appreciate the environment in there tonight, just that setting, that stadium, all your matches you won over in Louis Armstrong, too. This is such an incredible tournament for you every year, huh?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, and that's why I just want to win it, man. I mean, the love is incredible, man. It's something that gives me definitely tears in my eyes from a kid starting how I did, and the love I have here is crazy.

Every match I play, you know, from everyone, all the staff, the security guards, everyone really wants to see me do the thing.

Friends, family, my team, it's like a lot of great energy. The hotel I'm at, they're geeked out to see me every year. I feel good. I feel really good being here in New York.

Obviously tennis-wise, I've always been on the business ends of it. You know, hopefully one day we do it.

Q. The fall stretch hasn't always been an easy part of the calendar for you. I wonder what your sort of mindset is going into that now that, if it ends today, you'd be in a qualifying position for Turin. What's your mindset going into this stretch of the season?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, kind of continue what I've been doing all year. Just continue to work. I just fell in love with the work, so it's not something where -- you know, I'm going to probably feel sorry for myself the next couple of days, but after that, I can start working again and get my ass to Turin. I want to be there. I want to play.

That's a testament to the year that you played really well from top to bottom, and that's something I really want to do. It was a big thing I wrote on my vision board, and I want to get there.

Q. What was your sense that he did to sort of flip things around there in the second and third set that was different from the first set? What were you not seeing?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Man, for me, I mean, it's still something that -- even though I've won a lot of matches, still something that's lacking for me is my serve percentage-wise. I was working way too hard on my serve, and he was serving 82%.

Like, it's kind of hard. Especially lefties, moving around, spins, kicks, sliders, big ones. Obviously he can get it up there when he's really juicing out.

For me, I'm grinding, grinding, grinding in service games, and he was trying to break. I think that was the biggest thing.

Then he also started returning better. First set, I mean, the 5-4 game alone, his forehand-backhand return was way out. He had little jitters, but that's just something that I continue to need to get better. That was something that put me behind the 8-ball a lot tonight.

Q. There were some really exciting moments in the match, the 30-stroke rallies, there were about three or four of them. There was a crazy game where you were trying to hold serve to stay in that third set. I just wonder if maybe you saw anything in Ben that maybe he's shown some determination or something deeper that you haven't seen in him before this year that was helping him through a little bit?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Was amazing. We're both just 100% trying to figure it out, trying to get it. He returned well. I mean, I gave him a lot of seconds, but helped him out in that department.

Yeah, I mean, he wanted it. I wanted it too. I mean, he's hanging tough in rallies, not spraying as much. He's starting to get more solid. His game is starting to get more polished. Instead of just being a shot maker, he's actually staying tough in the rallies.

Obviously it's long rallies, he was still ready to go, which is not something he normally does, but he has been doing it a lot this year. That's probably it.

Q. Having played both of them a lot, what do you think Ben has to do to beat Zverev on Sunday, who he hasn't beaten before?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, obviously -- Grand Slam final. He's going to have to take his moments, and Ben has been doing a really good job of that. Continue to get the crowd on his side and see what happens. I mean, see what happens.

Both those guys are going to serve at a high clip and probably going to come down to some breakers. Obviously, you know, take the head-to-head out of it and actually believe he can win the tennis match. He's got to be good for a couple of hours, maybe plus, and see what happens. Let the best man win.