"Holy sh*t, I just had a heart attack" - Taylor Fritz reacts to being accused of endorsing UFC star Sean Strickland's homophobic beliefs
Taylor Fritz found himself in the middle of a controversy after accidentally liking a homophobic post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The controversy began when Fritz liked a comment posted by X user Nima Yamini on a tweet by American MMA fighter Sean Strickland. The comment stated that if the founding fathers of the USA were to wake up today, they would hit the reset button. This was written under Strickland's tweet, which railed against Pride Month and how shocked George Washington would be to witness Pride Month.
Taylor Fritz responded to the controversy after a post showing his like on Yamini's comment went viral. The American No. 1 said that he got a metaphorical "heart attack" after someone sent him a screenshot of his like. Fritz wrote that he must have accidentally liked the comment while going through Strickland's X account.
Fritz added that he does not agree with anything posted by Yamini and Strickland, and if one were to go through his likes on X, they would find that he is mostly interested in posts related to tennis and gaming.
"Holy shit I just got sent this and had a heart attack…. I DEFINITELY didn’t purposefully like this, I was looking at Stricklands profile a couple days ago cause of all the news he was in while in Vegas. I had to of accidentally liked that while scrolling the replies but wow just want to make it clear for anyone that doesn’t know me i absolutely don’t stand for any of this and if u we’re to look at my likes it’s either all gaming/tennis things I would NEVER do that on purpose," Taylor Fritz tweeted.
Taylor Fritz defends title at Delray Beach Open 2024
Taylor Fritz is enjoying a fruitful 2024 after backing up his quarterfinal finish at the 2024 Australian Open with a successful title defense at the Delray Beach Open in the USA. Fritz was seeded No. 1 at the ATP 250 tournament and did not drop a set on the way to the title.
The World No. 10 received a first-round bye and began his campaign with a straight-set sweep against Nuno Borges. He went on to defeat Rinky Hijikata, Marcos Giron and No. 3 seed Tommy Paul to lift the trophy.
The Delray Beach Open was Taylor Fritz's second tournament of the year after the Australian Open. At the Melbourne Major, the 26-year-old bettered Facundo Diaz Acosta, Hugo Gaston, Fabian Marozsan and No. 7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas before losing to defending champion and top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.