The best current American player is playing his first Grand Slam quarter-final on Wednesday against Nadal, who beat him in Indian Wells in March.
A Wimbledon,
A Grand Slam glass ceiling finally (broken)
The 24-year-old American lost to world number 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open in January (4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4) . Previously, he had stumbled seven times in the third round of a Major… With his new status of 13e world player, he finally reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam. Waiting for better? Quietly Taylor Fritz advances with confidence. The American walked around in 8e final against the surprise Jason Kubler, 99th in the world, swept away (6-3, 6-1, 6-4). Titled at Eastbourne (as in 2019), just before Wimbledon, Fritz, who remains on nine consecutive victories, confirms his very good form at the moment on a surface that he particularly appreciates. He still has not conceded a set since the start of the fortnight. Rafael Nadal is warned. And the 11-seeded, put on a show in round 2 against Britain’s Alastair Gray as he dove onto the turf to land an incredible forehand volley winner.
He won his first Masters 1000 in March against… Nadal
By winning the prestigious Indian Wells tournament in the Coachella Valley, Taylor Fritz last March became the first American to lift the trophy in the Californian desert, since Andre Agassi in 2001. In the semi-finals, he broke the series of thirteen consecutive successes of Andrey Rublev (7-5, 6-4) and in the final he had inflicted on Rafael Nadal, diminished it is true that day, his first defeat of the year 2022 (6-3, 7 -6). After this feat, the 24-year-old player, 1.96 meters tall, jumped into the top 10 by becoming the undisputed number one American ahead of Reilly Opelka (24). A performance almost at home for those who grew up in Rancho Santa Fe. A town in San Diego, located in southern California, two hours by road from Indian Wells.
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His only victory against a member of the Big Three
Faced with a physically diminished Nadal, the American, current 13th in the world, had thus been able to keep control of his nerves and his emotions to afford a first. He had never before beaten one of the three living legends of the circuit (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer). Fritz had faced Novak Djokovic five times, Roger Federer twice and Rafael Nadal once. Balance sheet? Eight matches, eight defeats. “I lost those matches against the big players so much… I felt like they were unbeatable, it was way too high for me “. He erases a bitter memory. At the Australian Open in 2021, he lost in five sets to Djokovic at 3e turn on the Rod Laver Arena. A meeting where the Serb had yet played with an abdominal tear…
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He’s a child of the ball
Like most champions of his age, the American fell into the tennis pot when he was little. Guy, her dad, is a former professional and was her first coach, then in 2016 was named head of US Olympic development. His mother, Kathy May is a former Top 10 member, won seven WTA titles and reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals, including two at Roland-Garros in 1977 and 1978.
In a relationship with a TikTok star
In 2016, at the age of 18, Talor Fritz married Raquel Pedraza with whom he had a child (Jordan) and with whom he divorced in December 2091 after three years of married life. The American is now making perfect love with Morgan Riddle, a very popular Instagram and Tiktok model, of Polish origin and 24 years old. She is “famous” for making 3.7 million views with this TikTok video where she explains what life on the circuit is like.
