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Frances Tiafoe signs up for pre-Australian Open tournament where he could come up against Nick Kyrgios

Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
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Frances Tiafoe is making his plans for the 2026 season as he looks to return to form.

Tiafoe had a relatively disappointing 2025 season, which included losing the last five matches of the year.

The best results for the American this year came on clay, with Tiafoe reaching the French Open quarterfinals for the first time.

However, this was the only time that Tiafoe had a deep run at a major this year, and he will now be looking to prove a point at the Australian Open.

Frances Tiafoe of United States of America during Day Six of The Championships Wimbledon 2025 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Photo by Marleen Fouchier/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Frances Tiafoe signs up to Kooyong Classic exhibition

Tiafoe lost in the second round of the Australian Open for a second consecutive year back in January, and he will be looking to significantly better that in 2026.

The 27-year-old has not confirmed if he will play any ATP tournaments prior to the Australian Open next year, but he has now signed up for the Kooyong Classic exhibition in the week prior to the first major of the year.

Tiafoe has played the Kooyong Classic twice before, and he will be joined by the likes of Alexander Bublik, Lorenzo Musetti, Learner Tien and Nick Kyrgios, who have also signed up for the exhibition in 2026.

Some of the other ATP players who have already been announced to compete in Kooyong are Flavio Cobolli, Karen Khachanov, Marin Cilic, Matteo Berrettini, Hubert Hurkacz and Zhizhen Zhang.

There will also be WTA players competing in Kooyong, with Donna Vekic and former world number five Daniela Hantuchova announced so far.

Who will be the biggest disappointment at the 2026 Australian Open?

View of the stage at the 2026 Australian Open media launch in 2025
Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

What happened when Frances Tiafoe played Nick Kyrgios before?

Kyrgios has been struggling with injury for some time now and as a result has not been a prominent feature on the ATP Tour.

This has prevented Kyrgios from playing the likes of Tiafoe, but they have competed against each other once before.

Their only previous match took place at the Washington Open in 2022, when Kyrgios beat Tiafoe, 6(5)-7 7-6(12) 6-2, in a tightly contested match where he saved five match points.

Do you think Nick Kyrgios wasted his talent?

Kyrgios' career stats
https://www.sofascore.com/tennis/player/kyrgios-nick/62490?utm_source=thetennisgazette&utm_medium=Tennis

Kyrgios would go on to win the Washington Open that year, and could face Tiafoe for the first time in over three years at the Kooyong Classic, which will take place between January 13-15.

Before they head to Australia, both players will play exhibitions during the off-season.

Tiafoe will play Taylor Fritz at the Charlotte Invitational on December 4, before heading to New Jersey to play world number one Carlos Alcaraz on December 7.

While Kyrgios will also play a number of exhibitions, including the divisive Battle of the Sexes match against Aryna Sabalenka.