On the Road With Frances Tiafoe, Who Will Try Kangaroo Before He Eats an Oyster
GQ SportsThe American tennis star is a seasoned international traveler, and he’s trying to sample local cuisine more often—with some limits.By Matthew RobersonDecember 11, 2024Photographs: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe ConteSave this storySaveSave this storySaveFew people on earth travel as often as professional athletes. With On the Road, the GQ Sports Travel Questionnaire, they’re weighing in on everything from room service to flying comfortably to their favorite chain restaurants.Frances Tiafoe’s passport is getting crowded. At just 26 years old, and already one of the major forces in American men’s tennis, Tiafoe has played tennis tournaments on five different continents in his ten-year career. In September and October of this year alone, he made stops in Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, Vienna, and Kazakhstan. All that travel means countless nights in overseas hotels, seemingly infinite sky miles, and dinners with some unique options on the menu.Tiafoe had a memorable 2024, making it all the way to the semifinal of the US Open, where he lost to fellow American twentysomething Taylor Fritz. That US Open run is the deepest Tiafoe has ever made in a Grand Slam, which is perhaps fitting, given that he and the tournament are both sponsored by Evian. “The US Open is my favorite event, and they’ve been a sponsor there for over 35 years,” Tiafoe said of the bottled water company. “I love their youthful mindset. The idea of health, hydration, and wellness—you think better, you sleep better, and you’re ready for work.”With Tiafoe, Fritz, and Tommy Paul all currently ranked among the top 20 men’s players in the world, the future of American tennis is bright. Amid a rare quiet period, on domestic soil no less—Tiafoe was Zooming in from a hotel in Dallas—the Maryland native reflected on his trips abroad, shared some common complaints he hears from his foreign competitors, and remembered the rude introduction he got to the ATP Tour as a teenager.You’ve been all over the world. Forget the actual tournaments for a second, what are your favorite places to go, just in terms of the city?I love being in New York. Rome is a great city. Paris is really cool. I get excited for Vienna. People don’t talk about that city, but it’s super nice. Paris and London are the staples, everyone’s really excited to be there. I prefer London to Paris. Australia is pretty cool…I like everywhere, man! I don’t take it for granted.It’s so easy to be like, “Oh, we’ll come here eventually.” But one day I’m going to stop bouncing the ball, so I try not to take that for granted. I’ve created friends, found restaurants I like to go to. It’s been cool.Do you get to explore much when you’re traveling for tennis?For sure. I like to go out in the cities, have nice dinners, walk around, especially when I’m traveling with my girl. In that sense, we love Paris. Walking around Paris and going to little cafes, very scenic. I’m also on a French brand, Evian, and I love Evian.Most places we go, she does a good job of trying to get me out and walking around, not being lazy, just in the room watching a bunch of Netflix. It’s all about being outside, bro.Are you tired of living out of hotels?I’m in one right now! It is what it is. I don’t even think about it anymore, I’m kind of immune to it, it’s just what I do. I try to make every place I go feel like home.What’s the first thing you do when you get to a hotel?I rearrange a little bit. I try to only pack one bag, and I like to leave my stuff in my bag. I don’t like to unpack. But usually by the end of the tournament, it’s all over the place. Especially for [Grand] Slams, I’m getting new stuff, I’ve got the old stuff I came in with, it’s madness. But I usually keep a decent routine.Are there certain things you look for in a hotel room?I like a welcome package! If they’ve got fruit, hors d'oeuvres, some nice messages, it makes you feel good and you want to be here. If they’ve got a couple Evian bottles, maybe…Are you precious about your rackets when you’re traveling?Yeah. You know how a lot of guys carry that second bag? Usually clothes in a little duffel bag? I can’t do that, because every time I’ve done that I’ve lost. I have really bad superstitions, so I put everything in my tennis bag. Grips, deodorant, rackets, all the extra shoes. That’s why sometimes I’ll carry shoes in my hand when I walk out. Everything’s in there. My bag is quite nasty after a while.I was going to ask, outside of rackets and shoes and stuff like that, what the key items are that most fans wouldn’t think of?Well, I always walk on the court with headphones. I have a lot of dampeners, usually, for the rackets. I always have a couple nice messages from fans, like stuff little kids give me. I have little tags, whether they’re from my favorite team, or numbers from jerseys that I like. Weird stuff.Cologne, because post-match if I feel like I’m smelling bad, I’ll just spray some on real quick, or dump it on. What else do I got in there? A bunch
Few people on earth travel as often as professional athletes. With On the Road, the GQ Sports Travel Questionnaire, they’re weighing in on everything from room service to flying comfortably to their favorite chain restaurants.
Frances Tiafoe’s passport is getting crowded. At just 26 years old, and already one of the major forces in American men’s tennis, Tiafoe has played tennis tournaments on five different continents in his ten-year career. In September and October of this year alone, he made stops in Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, Vienna, and Kazakhstan. All that travel means countless nights in overseas hotels, seemingly infinite sky miles, and dinners with some unique options on the menu.
Tiafoe had a memorable 2024, making it all the way to the semifinal of the US Open, where he lost to fellow American twentysomething Taylor Fritz. That US Open run is the deepest Tiafoe has ever made in a Grand Slam, which is perhaps fitting, given that he and the tournament are both sponsored by Evian. “The US Open is my favorite event, and they’ve been a sponsor there for over 35 years,” Tiafoe said of the bottled water company. “I love their youthful mindset. The idea of health, hydration, and wellness—you think better, you sleep better, and you’re ready for work.”
With Tiafoe, Fritz, and Tommy Paul all currently ranked among the top 20 men’s players in the world, the future of American tennis is bright. Amid a rare quiet period, on domestic soil no less—Tiafoe was Zooming in from a hotel in Dallas—the Maryland native reflected on his trips abroad, shared some common complaints he hears from his foreign competitors, and remembered the rude introduction he got to the ATP Tour as a teenager.
I love being in New York. Rome is a great city. Paris is really cool. I get excited for Vienna. People don’t talk about that city, but it’s super nice. Paris and London are the staples, everyone’s really excited to be there. I prefer London to Paris. Australia is pretty cool…I like everywhere, man! I don’t take it for granted.
It’s so easy to be like, “Oh, we’ll come here eventually.” But one day I’m going to stop bouncing the ball, so I try not to take that for granted. I’ve created friends, found restaurants I like to go to. It’s been cool.
For sure. I like to go out in the cities, have nice dinners, walk around, especially when I’m traveling with my girl. In that sense, we love Paris. Walking around Paris and going to little cafes, very scenic. I’m also on a French brand, Evian, and I love Evian.
Most places we go, she does a good job of trying to get me out and walking around, not being lazy, just in the room watching a bunch of Netflix. It’s all about being outside, bro.
I’m in one right now! It is what it is. I don’t even think about it anymore, I’m kind of immune to it, it’s just what I do. I try to make every place I go feel like home.
I rearrange a little bit. I try to only pack one bag, and I like to leave my stuff in my bag. I don’t like to unpack. But usually by the end of the tournament, it’s all over the place. Especially for [Grand] Slams, I’m getting new stuff, I’ve got the old stuff I came in with, it’s madness. But I usually keep a decent routine.
I like a welcome package! If they’ve got fruit, hors d'oeuvres, some nice messages, it makes you feel good and you want to be here. If they’ve got a couple Evian bottles, maybe…
Yeah. You know how a lot of guys carry that second bag? Usually clothes in a little duffel bag? I can’t do that, because every time I’ve done that I’ve lost. I have really bad superstitions, so I put everything in my tennis bag. Grips, deodorant, rackets, all the extra shoes. That’s why sometimes I’ll carry shoes in my hand when I walk out. Everything’s in there. My bag is quite nasty after a while.
Well, I always walk on the court with headphones. I have a lot of dampeners, usually, for the rackets. I always have a couple nice messages from fans, like stuff little kids give me. I have little tags, whether they’re from my favorite team, or numbers from jerseys that I like. Weird stuff.
Cologne, because post-match if I feel like I’m smelling bad, I’ll just spray some on real quick, or dump it on. What else do I got in there? A bunch of Clif Bars.
Yeah, bro. I’m not afraid of those.
A lot of hip-hop for when I’m getting ready. Nipsey Hussle is my guy. Jay-Z or 50 Cent if I’m in New York. I kind of just go with the vibes a bit. Drake is my favorite of all time.
Bro, that’s crazy to think about, almost ten years ago. Wow.
Yeah, I was just kind of reliving that moment. Young, wide-eyed kid, man. I remember the draws coming out and just hoping I didn’t play Rafa [Nadal]. That’s when he was still at the peak of his peak, winning the French for fun. I did not want to play that dude and get worked. Thank God I didn’t! I was super nervous. I didn’t play great at all, but it was an incredible experience.
It was probably that match! I played Martin Kližan, a good player, he beat me up pretty good. He was like 25th in the world. I don’t think, at that time, I had played a guy ranked that high. He was nasty, man. On clay? He was whipping the ball all over the place. I really had no shot. He was elite. I was like, “You got it, bro. This is your time.”
In certain places, I feel like they love Americans. Australia, they love us over there. They’re sports-crazy, and they get super behind us. Then in certain places they’re like, Ugh, these Americans. But most places are cool.
I don’t know how to say this, humbly speaking, but most places I go I feel a lot of love. People gravitate toward me a little bit. But there are things you’ll do in a certain city or town, you know classic Americans. We’re loud and obnoxious. At a dinner or something, you can feel the energy. What you on right now, bro? I get that often. But I’m gonna be me regardless.
They all complain about the food. They say it’s too processed and the portions are too big. They also think a lot of American tournaments are cheap when it comes to the venue, the stands, the organization, whatever, and they complain that they prioritize Americans too much as far as putting Americans on bigger courts than them.
[laughing] You know what’s so funny about that? A lot of years, my girl’s birthday is that week. So I never ask her to go to Cincy. But it’s what you make it. This year in Cincy, I brought two of my boys there. I went downtown to eat a couple times, I went to an MLS game—one of my good friends plays for the team. Jeff Ruby’s is a great restaurant there. Shout out Tony’s Steak and Seafood. It’s kind of a vibe!
I stayed a little more in the city. I stayed at the Summit, and not at the Marriott Northeast that’s right there [near the venue]. I actually love Cincy now! I’m not going to lie to you. It’s the calm before the US Open. Obviously, it helped that I made the final [in 2024], but the joy I had all week with the homies, playing video games in the room, it was chillin’. If you come in with that I ain’t tryna go to Cincy mindset—which I did for many years—it kind of changes how you feel about it. Cincy is dope!
[laughing] That’s a staple, man! You put that on your wings and it’s like crack. Mumbo sauce is a real thing. I really don’t know the history of it, I just know that growing up, I always had to get it. It’s really part of the culture. You have it at every little hole-in-the-wall spot. It’s just so good, bro. You go to DC, you gotta do that and you gotta get crab cakes.
I’ve tried some, but I’m pretty bad at it. I eat the same things every day. I love sushi. I love fish. Salmon, trout, cod, things like that. And I love steak. So I just kind of spin that around. But I try.
I had some kangaroo. It’s actually crazy good. But it took me a while to do that, last year was the first time. You want to say you did it once, you know what I mean? I’m not trying to make it a routine.
Yeah, but they cut it into smaller pieces at the restaurant I went to. It was chewy as hell, but it was really good. A lot of times I’m like, Hell no. But then I was like, “Let me see what this is like. Everyone says it’s crazy good.”
A lot of things. I hate eating greens, but I get yelled at now. I won’t ever eat oysters. Horrible to me. Like, super bad. I had it once and decided never, ever again.
It hasn’t come to me yet.
