AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2023

Frances Tiafoe

Press Conference

F. TIAFOE/J. Shang

6-4, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Just open up to questions.

Q. How confident does a day like that make you?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Oh, for sure. For sure. Really confident. I felt like I've been really confident. I felt like I've been playing really well.

Even the other day I could have won in three easy sets. And it helps that it ended up being a scare because, you know, I was very aware that things can get away from me. I just kept my foot on the gas the whole time going through, and it was a good performance there.

Q. What are you most pleased with about your game so far through these two matches?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Serving well. Serving really well. I guess solid from the back. Dumb areas. A little early on I was a little antsy, wasn't making a lot of mistakes, but once I settled in, I was really solid. Making guys earn it. I'm moving well. Lately I've been about as fit as I can be. My movement's really solid. I'm getting a lot of balls and just being solid.

The serve is the difference. The serve is the difference. I served 20 aces today. Percentage is getting better. Yeah, as you get deeper in the draw, you have to hold serve, so if I can get some freebies, I'll take them.

Q. You've been talking about being locked for a few weeks now. But I'm just curious, it would have been easy after the end of last year maybe to not be as locked in, but you've been right on it right from the start of the season. How happy are you to be as locked as you have been?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Just have to stay locked (smiling). It's the whole thing with the United Cup guys. Just staying locked in.

I made a joke about it with the guys, the United Cup asking them before the march, Are you locked? It's definitely become a thing. It's so funny how true it is because, I mean, staying between the lines, it's amazing how well you play. It's been coming like it's a funny thing with everybody.

To answer your question, you know, you come so close to doing something so special, and to see everything that happened after that, you know, I want more of those moments and better, right?

You know, I've gotten complacent before. I made quarterfinals here back in 2019. I got complacent. I saw what that looked like. Sorry for my language, but I was doing shit for two years, and now I'm back and playing well and playing some of the best tennis of my life.

I know when things are going well, and I know how things can go south. So, you know, I'm blessed with it and not taking it for granted.

Q. How do you feel about your opponent in the previous game?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Special. That dude is special. He is going to be a problem for a long time. He is 17 playing like that, hitting the ball like that, moving like that. Whew, the boy is a problem. That boy is going to be mean.

Nice dude. Obviously from China. Speaks Chinese. Speaks English well. He gonna to take all the money from all these dudes. He is going to have a career that's going to be special.

He is going to be a problem. And I'm a big fan of his. Super nice guy as well. I hope nothing but the best for him, honestly. I had a lot of good words to say for him after the match. Yeah, I mean, just time will tell.

Q. Anything impress you most?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Probably his (indiscernible) for how he looks. Wouldn't think he could hit the ball as hard as he can. That Babolat definitely helps.

Yeah, I mean, forehand, he can hit it hard. On the run, he can hit great shots. He is pretty skilled. He can slice. He has all the shots. Serve, his serve can get better. He will be really tough. I feel like every return game I made him pay. That's only going to get better. He is 17. So once that gets better...

And he is well-coached. He has Dante, who has coached a ton of great guys: Kei and Grigor. Yeah, he has all the formulas. He has to just keep going, keep the head down.

Q. Well, first, I wanted ask a quick one on the locked thing and where you got that from. Is it something a friend of yours says or there is some other athlete that uses that?

FRANCES TIAFOE: The locked thing, honestly, I've been kind of living by that for a little bit. I think you've seen the shift in myself in being more, you know, just locked in everything you're doing, staying super present, staying in the moment, staying locked in.

It's funny coming from me because everyone knows how I go about my business. I'm very, you know, open and just joking around. When I'm saying it, it just sounds funny. So then it became a thing where if Frances can lock, everyone has got to lock. That's kind of, like, how it all came around.

But it's funny because they're all saying it. Maddie, Fritz. Fritz dumb ass drew a penis the other day trying to draw a lock sign. That's Fritz being Fritz.

Yeah, it's good. We're all doing well, and it's becoming a good team camaraderie, so yeah.

Q. Also, I just wanted to ask you potentially in the fourth round could have had a rematch from New York here with Rafa. I'm wondering what your reaction was, thoughts are on seeing what happened with him against Mackey today?

FRANCES TIAFOE: I think it's been a question mark how Rafa has been feeling for a little bit now. I told Mackey, Listen, you could join the three amigos, you know: me, Fritz, and Tommy. We all got him. I don't know if you want to join it.

Also, I told him, You're going to be in a position to win today. You can win today. Sort of seeing how he feels, I'm happy for Mackey. GOAT wins don't come easy. Something to tell his grandkids one day, and you have to be happy for that guy.

But, you know, selfishly, yes, I would have loved that matchup again because beating him in New York that day definitely changed my life.

But, you know, against it, I'm happy for Mackey, that hopefully he keeps going and hopefully we play in the fourth round. So it's kind of a win for both.

Yeah, I mean, again, I mean, it's tough. Rafa has been running around doing this for a long time. I don't know where his body is at, but he is an absolute legend.

Q. You mentioned before about 2019 and where you were sort of sniffed at the deep end of the tournament for the first time. And now you did this at the US Open. Can you compare your level of motivation then and your level of motivation now and how the emotion is different?

FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah, it's not even comparable. I was young, man. I turned 21 during the tournament. All these things were so new. I had also at the time a young coach. It was just me and him, and he was 25. I was kind of just happy to be there. It was super unexpected. I caught on fire.

And I got real complacent. My career was only going this way. Since I was young, I was only going this way. Then I was just, like, All right, cool, I did it. I'm 21 years old. I'm 29 in the world. I'm just going to keep going.

Got complacent, not doing the work, being lax on a lot of different things, on the details, and it hurt me. It really hurt me. The game caught up to me. You lose confidence, and then by the time you know it, people start figuring it out. It don't take much, man.

Then by the time you know, you're playing challengers and you are, like, God damn, where did it all go? Yeah, and then you have to get yourself out of a hole.

So, yeah, again, I'm so much more focused and just really want it.