"I think what my girlfriend did was awesome for our sport" - Taylor Fritz on Morgan Riddle's viral TikTok video
Taylor Fritz could not be more proud of his girlfriend Morgan Riddle for how she has made tennis more popular among the younger generation. Referring to Riddle's viral TikTok video where she explained the intricacies of the sport to newer fans, the World No. 20 hailed her for "selling" the game in a way that hasn't been done before.
The American marched into the fourth round of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters with a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2) victory over Jaume Munar on Tuesday. Speaking at his press conference afterward, Fritz noted that her video has led to a "ton of people" turning their attention to tennis.
Fritz Fights Through!
It's beginning to look - dare we say - likely that an American man will go pretty deep at Indian Wells.
And, Taylor Fritz is one of the top contenders.
But he got quite the fight to stay in contention, holding on to defeat Jaume Munar, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2). https://t.co/K23IlqUtIE
The 24-year-old was of the opinion that his girlfriend was smart about playing to her target audience, talking up parts of the sport that would appeal to them instead of bogging them down with minutiae.
"I think what [my girlfriend] did was awesome for our sport. It got a ton of people looking at it," Fritz said. "Regardless of the reaction people have had from it, I think everyone in the tennis community can agree that it's good for tennis to kind of almost sell it in a different kind of way, one that she would know -- she knew her audience would kind of react to."
Asked Taylor Fritz today about his girlfriend’s TikTok efforts toward glamorizing tennis, of which he is, unsurprisingly, hugely supportive. twitter.com/blairhenley/st… https://t.co/RAm2aCdali
The video has understandably invited some criticism from social media, especially from the older generation, but Taylor Fritz could not wrap his head around why anyone would be upset with it. As someone who sees first-hand how tennis is received by fans around the world, the former World No. 16 declared that he agreed with everything said in the clip.
"I think you get your typical older fan maybe like upset about it. I don't understand how anyone can get upset about it. I'm the one that's a professional tennis player, I'm the one that does this for a living," Fritz said. "I 100% agree with everything in that video."
The American reiterated his comments from earlier this week, saying that tennis in the USA was limited to just the Grand Slams and a "couple of other little things." Lamenting the fact that the mainstream media in his country never took an interest in other tournaments, the 24-year-old was glad to finally see the sport getting increasingly noticed.
"People know what the Grand Slams are, they know a couple of [other] little things about tennis. But tennis isn't talked about on ESPN unless it's a very select few or under certain circumstances," Taylor Fritz said. "You're never going to hear SportsCenter talk about, so-and-so American [winning] their match at, like, Monte-Carlo. It's not popular like that. So it's nice to see tennis kind of getting more attention."
"It's always really tough playing Alex de Minaur but I think I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do" - Taylor Fritz on his 4R match at Indian Wells
Following his victory over Jaume Munar, Taylor Fritz will face World No. 31 Alex de Minaur for a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters. The 23-year-old defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets to set up a fifth meeting with Fritz. The World No. 20 trails 1-3 in the head-to-head, but won their most recent meeting at the 2021 US Open.
After his upset of Alexander Zverev, American Tommy Paul is beaten by Australia's Alex de Minaur 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the third round of the @BNPPARIBASOPEN
Paul's buddy Taylor Fritz up a break in the third on Jaume Munar
#getty https://t.co/VB4joziVqL
The American lauded de Minaur as a "really tough" opponent to play against, especially because of his knack for getting balls back into play that he had no right reaching in the first place.
"It's always really tough playing Alex de Minaur. He's really tough to play. He wins a lot of points that are pretty frustrating just by how many balls he gets back," Taylor Fritz said. "I only got my first win over him ever the most recent time we played at US Open."
Taylor Fritz finally gets one over on Alex de Minaur, pulling off his first ever win over the Aussie in the opening round of the US Open.
Fritz settled into better form earlier and, despite a blip in the third set, stayed steady to earn the 7-6 (4), 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory. https://t.co/nnlKDlEQsI
At the same time, the 24-year-old noted that he was going into the contest under less pressure than his previous two matches since he knew it was going to be difficult. Taylor Fritz sounded confident that he could beat the Australian, saying that he had a "pretty good idea" of what he had to do to win.
"But there's going to be a lot less pressure going into this match than the other two because I know I'm going to have to play really well. I know that it's going to be super tough," Fritz said. "What I did to beat him at the US Open is still pretty fresh in my mind. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do."