Taylor Fritz gets good laugh as Rafael Nadal repeatedly answers his name in viral ATP quiz
Taylor Fritz and Rafael Nadal delighted tennis fans on social media and it was not because of a match between them, for a change.
A video recently posted on social media showed the eight qualifiers in the season-ending ATP Finals engaging in a fun game where they identified the players associated with a fact given to them.
As the players made wild guesses, one of them gave the netizens a good laugh: Nadal who kept bringing up the name of Fritz, hoping he could get the answer right.
"Taylor, maybe? I just keep saying Taylor; maybe one of them is," said the 14-time Roland Garros champ, laughing, as he was asked to guess the player who played the trumpet when he was younger.
Among those who found the incident funny was Fritz himself.
"Rafa guessing me for every question," posted Fritz on his Twitter account, along with a few emojis.
Rafa guessing me for every question 😂😂😂 twitter.com/tennistv/statu…
The World No. 2 got the answer wrong as it was actually the musically-inclined Felix Auger-Aliassime, who, apart from playing the trumpet when he was young, also plays the piano.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion tried his luck anew, answering Fritz again when asked who among the lot, which also included Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, had dinner with pop star Shania Twain.
"No idea. Maybe, let's say, Fritz?" guessed the new dad.
It wasn't the reigning Indian Wells champion, but former Rafa Nadal Academy alum Ruud. Prior to that, the Spaniard seemed to have mixed up the top-ranked American player with a singer of his namesake as he thought that he was the player who recently recorded and released an album.
"No idea. Taylor?" asked the five-time year-end No. 1 who did not get the correct answer: Stefanos Tsitsipas.
His confidence in the ATP Finals debutante finally paid off as he finally got it right: the World No. 9 won a Mario tennis competition with social media influencer Addison Rae.
"Maybe that's Taylor," said the Spaniard, nodding as he laughed.
Taylor Fritz has last laugh against Rafael Nadal in 2022
Rafael Nadal may have given Taylor Fritz something to smile about in the now-viral video, but what has given the American so much satisfaction is his 2-1 head-to-head record against the 22-time Grand Slam champion this season.
The two first met in the Indian Wells finals this year, where the 25-year-old, bothered by an ankle problem, bested another injury-hit Nadal (stress fracture in the rib) to seize his first Masters title.
While the long-time No. 1 exacted revenge against Fritz in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon via a five-set marathon, the World No. 9 closed the 2022 chapter of their duels with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win in the round-robin stage of the ongoing ATP Finals.