During her press conference at the 2023 Roland Garros, Madison Keys revealed how her good friend Frances Tiafoe teases her by calling her 'mom'.
In recent months there seems to be a great synergy between the US players on the ATP & WTA Tours. It seemingly all started at the United Cup and since then, it's always something new, especially with Tiafoe who likes to joke around.
In a previous interaction, Tiafoe had also called Keys "OG" (an abbreviation for "original gangster", often used to refer to someone who's been around for a while), to which she humorously interpreted as him calling her old. He even asked her how old she was, and upon her reply of being 27 at the time, Tiafoe expressed that he felt like Keys had been playing for over 40 years.
When the American, who recently announced engagement with Bjorn Fratangelo, was asked whether it's true that Tiafoe calls her 'grandma' during her post-match press conference after the first-round victory at the only clay-court Grand Slam tournament of the season, she responded: "Yeah. Usually it's "mom." Not quite grandma yet."
In the press conference, Keys shared that Tiafoe enjoys making her feel older by jokingly reminiscing about watching her on TV when he was a child.
"I always remind him that I'm not that much older than him, but he'll always say things like, Oh, I remember watching you on TV when I was a kid. I'm, like, I'm not that much older than you. I think at this point he just likes to do it to make me feel old. I always tell him he will find out one day (laughing)."
Tiafoe's light-hearted teasing extends beyond verbal jests. During the United Cup, Keys' victory over Marie Bouzkova gave a crucial lead to the American team. In response to her victory, Tiafoe put on a show and went fanboy over her victory, asking her for an autograph after her match, to which Keys responded, "Anything for my fans".
The funny fact is that it's Keys' early start and success in the sport might be a contributing factor to Tiafoe's perception of her as an "older" presence in the tennis world. Keys started playing tennis at a young age and turned professional on her 14th birthday.
She quickly showed her potential by becoming one of the youngest players to win a WTA Tour level match a few months later, making her a visible figure in the tennis world from an early age.
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