US OPEN

September 7, 2022

Frances Tiafoe

Press Conference

F. TIAFOE/A. Rublev

7-6, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Once again, congratulations. Three sets, barely over two-and-a-half hours. Assessment of your performance this afternoon.

FRANCES TIAFOE: That was a really good performance. Played well, served well. Yeah, really aggressive. Yeah, it was a pretty clean performance. Can't really critique it, really.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I remember last year after you beat Andrey and right before you played Felix, you said you played these guys in the juniors, didn't fear anybody. Do you feel you have more confidence in yourself than you ever had before? Do you feel you don't fear anyone left in the draw?

FRANCES TIAFOE: For sure, for sure. Absolutely. I played Andrey, you know, literally in the juniors here. We are pretty familiar with each other, get along great.

I felt way comfortable coming out today than when I was playing Rafa. Like, uphill battle. Geez, can I get this done? Today I felt really comfortable and it showed in my performance.

Q. This is really a significant moment for American men's tennis, reaching a semifinal. Been 16 years. If you could detail how much you love playing the US Open in front of this crowd and also how your fellow Americans have influenced you, the other American men that you play with.

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I think all the American guys are pushing each other. You see Fritz won Indian Wells this year. Reilly made finals of Toronto last year. Me and Fritz had a great run at Wimbledon. Could have made semis there. Tough one with Rafa. Heartbreaker.

You see these guys do well. And obviously when I made quarterfinals of slam 2019, you see a lot of guys playing well. Tommy is playing great. We are all pushing each other.

You know, I just so happen to be the guy doing the run right now. I'm sure come next year in the slams, they will be doing just exactly the same. Everyone is super capable. American tennis is in a great place.

We are all starting to really get into our primes, and we will see where that takes us.

Q. That second-set tiebreaker, 7-0, was that as good of a tiebreaker...

FRANCES TIAFOE: Best tiebreaker I will ever play. (Laughter.)

Q. You were great in tiebreakers this tournament. What's the secret? What were you feeling in that second-set tiebreak? Did you ever expect anything close to that?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, there was no breaks. I'm like, man, this is definitely a big breaker. I didn't really have any expectations obviously other than wanting to win it.

I was thinking about the first point. I served. I was like, I'm just going to try to hit the serve as hard as I can up the T, see what happens. I got the first point. Yeah, things just started happening.

It was honestly a laughable tiebreaker. You can't make that up. Drop volley behind me. Lob return. He lets it bounce. I come in. Out of nowhere a drop volley again. Inside-out return to win. It was a kick of a breaker.

Q. Obviously you needed a massive reset after beating Rafa the other day. Can you describe sort of what the last two days were like coming into this match and what you think your routine will be like in the next two days ahead of the semifinals.

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, I mean, it was wild. You know, talked about everywhere. Yeah, I mean, after the match, never been blowing that much stuff in my life. Biggest day of my life. You know, I played some great tennis. I knew what was going to come with it.

You know, that night, I couldn't really sleep. Last night I slept great. I mean, preparation-wise, you stay in the moment. Honestly, stay in the moment. At the end of the day, it was a huge win. Just fourth round. Played in a quarterfinal of a slam before, and everyone left is looking for that first opportunity to get it done.

I'm just trying to focus on that and stay in the moment. And, yeah, we will see where it goes.

Q. Is your hotel room as messy as your player bench?

FRANCES TIAFOE: My hotel room right now is a disgrace too. Yeah, it's pretty bad. Clothes everywhere.

My player bank is diabolical. Yeah, it's getting the job done, so who cares right now.

Q. Can you describe what it's like to be out there in those moments where you are playing as well as you are and you've got 20,000-plus people supporting you? Have you always been somebody who kind of enjoyed that sort of big stage and that showmanship? And if so, where do you think that came from?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, I couldn't really put my finger on where it came from. I just love playing in front of a packed crowd. I feel like that's why you train hard. Show the world what you can do. Don't shy away from it. Go to it.

I just love playing in front of packed people. I love to show the world what I can do. Then it makes me feel good when people appreciate how hard you're trying out there and appreciate good tennis, especially where I came from. To see how many people I can get behind me. Means a lot. I just want to go out there and try to give the crowd what they want, and that's me getting the win.

Q. You mentioned that the attention is now from all over the world. What message do you think your life's story should send to people?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, anybody can do it, honestly. Obviously that's a cliché, but I think if you are really passionate about something... Everybody's got a gift. Just kind of just tapping into that, and really taking it seriously.

If you are truly, truly passionate about something, I think anything can happen, and being just obsessed with it. Right now I'm just really obsessed with tennis, and I want to see how far I can go with this thing.

Q. I saw your mom actually yesterday after the Nadal match and she said she told you don't play the name, just play the ball. Any advice she gave...

FRANCES TIAFOE: She says that before every match. (Laughter.)

Q. How does she help you be positive and be the best player you can been?

FRANCES TIAFOE: She's my No. 1 fan. My mom doesn't really know much about tennis. But she is just like, you win: Yes. You lose: It's okay, the next one.

In general, my family, my team, everyone just is really positive. A lot of positive energy. They just want me to go out there and put it all out there and play to win and live with the result.

Q. I was just wondering, on your wrist you've got the band, "Believe. Why not me"?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Lakers' assistant coach Phil Handy, he has this thing called Deuce brand. He gave me some bracelets. Anything just to give you a little inspiration. Look at that: Yeah, why not me? You put the time in, so why not me?

Believe in yourself, it's so big. You have to believe in yourself before anybody else does.

Q. After every time you win, people are talking about what you mean to U.S. tennis, to men's tennis, to black men in tennis, people of color in tennis. Does that energize? Do you feel more pressure?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, not really. I know what it's going to come with. You win matches, you know people are going to say what they are going to say. All those different things.

Every time I win, I just want to inspire a bunch of people to just know that you can -- I mean, anything is possible. For me do this and talk about how I feel about being in the US Open from my come-up is crazy.

At the end of the day I love that because of Frances Tiafoe there is a lot of people of color playing tennis. That's obviously a goal for me. That's why I'm out here trying pretty hard.

Q. Everyone pretty much knows from the early days that you are just so much fun to watch. You have these great strokes, athleticism, speed, all that. There were some issues, too. You have just tapped into a real maturity now and become a finisher. Can you talk about how you have developed in terms of maturity? Was it a pain in the neck to stop eating fun foods and practicing your butt off? Was that a challenge?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I mean, it just kind of just went through life. You go through different stages of your life. When I came on the scene, flying up the rankings, everything was kind of good.

I got a bit complacent, 2019. Took me a long time kind of just get myself together. Obviously with the COVID rankings, stuff like that, people not losing points, that took a while as well.

Just in general, I just got a good team around me. I started really falling in love with the process, just trying to get better.

I think during that time the cameras weren't on me, attention wasn't on me. I was able to just kind of get better and do my own thing. I stopped trying to be the guy. Like when things were going to happen, it was going to happen. I was fine with it. I was comfortable with myself.

Yeah, now, it's all come into fruition.

Q. You said earlier you wanted to show the world what you can do. And I know you have been in a quarterfinal before, but in Australia. When you come in here, you have a room like this. I see how you're getting mobbed out there. That kind of appreciation, how much does that mean to you in particular that the world really is watching right now and knowing what you're capable of?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, that's love, man. I really appreciate that. You know, that stuff gets me emotional, for sure. Seeing people like screaming your name, just loving what you're doing. That's awesome. That's what it's all about.

You know, everyone loves a Cinderella story. Just trying to make one.

Q. In the business end of slams, experience has always, for the last couple of decades, played a huge part. We see the mismatches, a guy hasn't been there, faces a Nadal or Djokovic. This year it's a bit more wide open. Wondering if that puts your mind at ease a bit?

FRANCES TIAFOE: For sure, put my mind at ease that Nadal is out of the way (smiling). That's a real thing. I mean, everyone is going to be in those first-time situations.

People might gag under pressure. People may lift up. You never know what's going to happen. It's going to be a first. To have those guys, yeah, that was always a problem. Didn't really matter where you're from, what was your name. You ran into those guys, and they just said, See ya.

Q. You mentioned trying to inspire and hoping to inspire, and you have inspired a lot of young players of color. There is a difference between playing tennis just as a sport and achieving a high level, even college scholarship level or minor leagues of tennis level. What is the one barrier, the biggest barrier you think between just getting players to play and then getting them to be great players?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I think it's kind of like with anything, the more you can do something, I think the better you will be at it, right? How much access you have to the game, how much you can play. You know, I was lucky enough to play -- I was playing tennis hours and hours around the game, soaking up the game, watching the game.

You know, it was my life. The only thing I really watched growing up was Tennis Channel. I mean, you end up just falling in love with it. I think that will get you to the next level, for sure.

I think with anything in life, the more and more you do it, I mean, there is only one way to kind of go. Obviously having a goal like from a super young age, what are you actually trying to do with this? If it's for fun, cool. If you are actually trying to be great, then just have that focus.

Q. Next you have Sinner or Alcaraz. Do you have a preference, and what kind of game do you expect against each?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I think it's going to be a great match. I don't really have a preference. Either guy is going to be tough. They're both great players. I just hope they play a marathon match, super-long match, and they get really tired come Friday (smiling).

No, they are both great players. It's going to be great tennis. I think they will be Grand Slam champions when they have done their careers, for sure. Those two are unbelievable players. Great for the game.