"He is an unbelievable ball striker, he is literally one of the players that can take the racquet out of your hand"- coach Michael Russell on Taylor Fritz
According to Taylor Fritz's coach Michael Russell, the American tennis player can rip anyone's racquet out of their hands and possesses tremendous ball striking ability.
Michael Russell is a former american tennis pro who had a career-high singles ranking of World No. 60. He is also successful as a coach and he has been coaching Fritz since 2019.
Taylor Fritz won his first Masters 1000 title in memorable fashion: By holding off a full-throttle charge from Rafael Nadal, and ending his win streak at 20.
@SteveTignor on how @Taylor_Fritz97 made his “wild dream” come true at Indian Wells: tennis.com/news/articles/…
The veteran coach praised his mentee and talked about improvements in his game in a recent podcast interview with Candy Reid. He claimed that Taylor Fritz is a player who can make things harder for his opponents on the court, and that his reflexes are one of his strongest assets.
"Taylor is an unbelievable ball striker, his hand eye coordination is incredible, just the way he’s able to pick up balls and reflex and then also generate power, " Russell said. "He is literally one of the players that can take the racquet out of your hand so that’s one of the things I help bring beside analysing and focusing on his game."
"But on the physical side, focusing more on the physicality of things because even as talented Taylor is, you still have to be physical on the court and so if we can just increase by one percent, his reaction time, his explosiveness, his stamina, that just gives this balance of confidence to him and realises that he can play deep in a grand slam, played 3 or 5 so that just one percent exponentially increases, " he added.
Russell then addressed Taylor Fritz's dealings with ups and downs and said it's acceptable for him to not always play at a high level.
It’s managing the ups and downs and not getting too high or too low, " Russell said, adding, "Taylor won Indian Wells which was incredible the way he played so well and it’s understanding that this is your level, that you do belong as a top ten player and you can be there and compete for Grand Slam titles and at the same time not get complacent and expect yourself to play at this level all the time."
Taylor Fritz returned to the Citi Open after putting on a standout showing at Wimbledon this year by making it to the quarterfinals, where Rafael Nadal ended his run in a thrilling five-setter.
However, in sweltering circumstances in Washington, the World No. 13 quit in the third set of his Citi Open fourth-round match on Thursday due to illness. This allowed 16th seed Dan Evans to book his spot in the quarterfinals, where he lost to Yoshihito Nishioka in a thrilling three-set encounter.
Dan Evans saves a match point and advances to the @CitiOpen Quarterfinals via retirement in the third set.Wishing a speedy recovery to Taylor Fritz!
🇬🇧Dan Evans saves a match point and advances to the @CitiOpen Quarterfinals via retirement in the third set. https://t.co/XSa0DCCU7e
"I feel embarassed not being able to finish a match"- Taylor Fritz after his withdrawal from the Citi Open QF match
After his mid-match withdrawal against Dan Evans, Taylor Fritz took to Twitter to let his followers know that his health was generally fine. He also admitted that, despite his best attempts, he was ashamed of being unable to complete the match.
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Quick explanation of what happened to me today, sorry if I worried anybody I’m okay 🙏🏻 https://t.co/nY1EUuYKuc
"First off health wise, I'm okay, " Fritz wrote, adding, "I feel embarassed not being able to finish a match. I've never pulled out of a match in my life but after my episode in Toronto last year where I pushed myself to finish the match and almost passed out, I assured my team I would pull out if similar symptoms happened again".
He also admitted that he has had foot issues since Wimbledon, but noted that he felt better during training and was pleased with his performance at the Citi Open thus far.
"Typically, I pride myself on my fitness and ability to compete in very hot/ humid, brutal conditions like today, " Taylor Fritz wrote. "Many don't know this but I have been in a boot since Wimbledon. I started practice on court again this Saturday so playing here in DC was definitely ambitious but I'm really happy with my actual level of tennis."
"I'm really happy that my foot is feeling good. Now that my foot feels better can finally put in the on court work and be prepared for the rest of the year. Sorry if worried anyone, " he added.
If Fritz recovers in time, he'll take on former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round of the National Bank Open in Montreal on Monday in their first career meeting.