One Source, Two Centuries: Frances Tiafoe and Evian’s 200 Years Young
The American tennis player on hydration, hunger and drinking from a spring that has been running since 1826
Water that ends up in an evian bottle fell on the French Alps more than 15 years before anyone drinks it. It spends those years working down through glacial sand and rock, gathering minerals at a pace set by geology. evian has been drawing from that same source since 1826, which makes this year its 200th.
Frances Tiafoe is one of the faces the brand has put on the anniversary. He appears in 200 Years Young alongside Carlos Alcaraz and the artist Jeff Koons, and the campaign lands in the same stretch of summer he spends building toward the US Open.
“I’m proud to be part of the 200 Years Young campaign, especially during such an iconic year for evian,” he says. “Carlos is obviously someone I know from the tour, and Jeff Koons is an incredible artist, so it was really cool to see those worlds come together.”
Two Centuries From One Alpine Source
The source sits above Évian-les-Bains, and the water spends more than 15 years filtering through Alpine rock before it reaches a bottle, a figure Tiafoe reads as information about what he drinks.
“As an athlete, I’m always thinking about what I’m putting into my body and making sure I’m staying hydrated,” he says. “Anyone who knows me, knows I sweat a lot so it’s really important for me to hydrate well and right. Knowing where evian comes from and the story behind it makes me appreciate it even more. There’s something cool about knowing exactly where the water you’re drinking is coming from.”
Provenance does the same work here that it does in wine or coffee, and he can name the address. That address is also what gives the anniversary its weight for the people carrying the campaign. “The brand has such a cool connection to its roots in the French Alps, going all the way back to 1826,” Tiafoe says. “So being part of telling that story and celebrating 200 years was pretty special.”
Hydration Inside the Routine
The run-up to a US Open has a shape Tiafoe can recite. “You wake up, get a good breakfast, get on the court, get your work in, recover, eat and then do it all over again,” he says. “At this point, I know what my body needs and what I need to feel good going into a Slam, so a lot of it is just habit. But every year is a little different. You’re coming in with a different body, different confidence, different things you’re working on, so you have to listen and adjust.”
Knowing where evian comes from and the story behind it makes me appreciate it even more. There’s something cool about knowing exactly where the water you’re drinking is coming from.
Frances Tiafoe, Tennis player and us Open Competitor
Habit carries most of it and the adjustments happen inside that, which is why this year looked slightly different: a deep run in Cincinnati pushed his arrival in New York later than usual. Hydration runs through the whole block either way, and he is specific about where it lands. “Hydration is something I’m thinking about all day, especially when I’m training or playing in the heat,” he says. “I make sure I’m drinking evian before I get on the court and keep it with me during practice and matches. During a match, I’m making sure I’m getting enough in on the changeovers so I can stay locked in and ready for the next point. Even on recovery days, I’m still focused on staying hydrated and taking care of my body. It’s one of those things that’s easy to overlook, but it makes a big difference.”
The changeover is where that becomes visible, a short window in which what goes in the bottle is one of the few variables a player still controls. His kit on the road stays small, too. “Give me my headphones, my music, some good food and I’m good,” he says. Hotels blur together over a season, so the routine he keeps and the calls home are what make a room his.
What “Live Young” Means at 28
Live Young has been evian’s line for years, and it is the part of the brand Tiafoe claims most easily.
“To me, ‘Live Young’ is really about having fun and keeping that sense of joy in what you’re doing,” he says. “Tennis can be a grind, and I’m always learning and trying to get better, so I think it’s important to enjoy the process too. Whether I’m on the court, training or just hanging with my people, I try to keep that mindset. I’m 28 now and obviously have more experience, but I still have that same hunger. I still love competing, I still love getting better, and I still get excited about what I can do.”
The mindset gets tested during a Slam, where the noise around an American in New York builds fast. “There’s going to be pressure and expectations, but I can’t spend time thinking about what everybody else wants me to do,” he says. “I have to focus on what I can control, how I prepare, how I compete and how I respond when things don’t go my way. I try to stay present and take it one match at a time. I’ve played enough big matches now to know that you’re going to have highs and lows, so you just have to keep believing in yourself and keep showing up.” Staying present is the working form of that mindset, and he has enough big matches behind him to know how two weeks tend to move.
The Alps, Brought to New York
The campaign also gave evian a reason to put the athletes and artists it works with in one room, and that is the part Tiafoe returns to. “What made it really special was seeing evian bring together its global brand ambassador family to celebrate such a major milestone,” he says. “With everyone’s different schedules, it’s not always easy to get everyone together, so it was a great opportunity to connect, bring our own creativity and perspectives to the campaign and celebrate 200 years of evian and its heritage.”
Tour and studio calendars make a room like that rare.
The anniversary reaches past the campaign itself. evian recently gave away the trip in its 200 Years Young Sweepstakes, sending one fan and a guest to New York as VIPs at the US Open and then on to Évian-les-Bains to see where the water starts. The brand has also staged a 200 Years Young Celebration in the city, an event that brings “the spirit of the French Alps to NYC, with good vibes, food, music, special surprises,” Tiafoe says.
New York is also where his own two weeks carry the most weight. “The US Open is just different for me. Being American and playing in New York, there’s so much energy around it,” he says. “I grew up watching this tournament and watching guys play on Ashe, so now being the guy walking out there is pretty crazy. The crowd is unbelievable, and I feel like they really get behind me.” He has made deep runs at Flushing Meadows and heard Ashe at full volume, and he comes back every year looking to add to the list.
What he wants out of all of it carries past the tournament. “I grew up in Maryland and didn’t come from some crazy tennis background where everything was handed to me. I worked, I had people believe in me and I kept going,” he says. “So if some kid is watching me walk out on Ashe and thinks, ‘I want to do that one day,’ that means a lot to me. I want them to know they can be themselves, they can come from wherever they come from and they can still dream big.”
Two hundred years is a long time for anything to hold its shape. evian has done it by going back to the same place in the Alps every time. Tiafoe measures his own version in whoever is watching from the stands.
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