Watch: Taylor Fritz responds to Stefanos Tsitsipas's camera message after Monte-Carlo QF win
Taylor Fritz defeated defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday, April 14, to reach the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters for the first time in his career. Tsitsipas entered the contest on a 12-match winning streak in Monte-Carlo, but his reign was ended in one hour and 12 minutes as the American won 6-2, 6-4.
With the Greek's defeat, the top two seeds have now been eliminated from the claycourt tournament. Novak Djokovic, the top seed, lost in the third round on Thursday to Lorenzo Musetti.
After his victory, Fritz wrote a message on the camera lens that appeared to be a response to Tsitsipas's controversial remark about American claycourt tournaments. A day earlier, following his win over Nicolas Jarry, the Greek had written on the camera lens that claycourts in the USA are "like a unicorn on a skateboard."
"Clay court in the US is like a unicorn on a skateboard."
— TSITSIPAS, Stefanos https://t.co/iBymI0tojt
After beating Tsitsipas on his favorite surface, Fritz wrote:
"USA clay???"
OH MY
@Taylor_Fritz97 #RolexMonteCarloMasters https://t.co/q2hvA3VOFM
"Beating Stefanos Tsitsipas here gives me a lot of confidence and reassurance" - Taylor Fritz
In an on-court interview following his win against two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz said that the result gave him the confidence he needed to know he could play well on clay.
"I thought my level today was really high. Beating him here gives me a lot of confidence and reassurance I need to know I can play well on clay," he said.
Fritz then stated that he kept his cool under pressure and stuck to his strategy of pulling the trigger and trying not to let the World No. 3 dictate with the forehand.
"I seemed to play well on the big points. I just took my chances. I knew if I played too safe then he was going to be able to dictate with the forehand. Even in the pressure moments I stuck to my strategy of pulling the trigger and trying not letting him get those forehands to dictate on," he explained.
Speaking about Andrey Rublev, his semifinal opponent, Fritz said that he was excited about the matchup as the Russian is both a tough player and a good friend.
"He's tough. When we played that match in the juniors in Mexico it was more like sand we were playing on! He's a great player and also a good friend. I'm excited for the match, he's tough," he said.
Fritz and Rublev will lock horns in the semifinals on Saturday, April 15.