Even though I am a semi-fan of tennis I first encountered Taylor Fritz on some sort of Netflix special that was focusing on a bunch of different and "unusual" tennis players from all around the world. Taylor was basically the only person in there that would be considered the "normal" addition to the show. He comes from a relatively wealthy family and discovered a talent at tennis at a very young age.
Both of his parents were professional tennis players and his family is involved in the ownership of Macy's so yeah, they got some money on them.
src
Taylor was a champion in junior tournaments and by the time he was 17 he was a top 250 ranked men's player across all ages. This is not something that many people can accomplish and it is pretty special when they do. He managed to remain in the spotlight for years but was never considered a real threat to win any tournaments. That all kind of started to change when he won his first match in a major tournament in 2017.
Like many other tennis players that could be great, he was kind of born at the wrong time. With people like Djokovic, Murray, Federer, and Nadal winning almost anything that they get involved in, it is kind of difficult for anyone else to shine. Taylor is a mere 26 years old now and he is showing that he likely has many years of play ahead of him. Like many people especially the younger competitors right now it seems as though they are kind of waiting for Djokovic to retire before they can really get a chance to fill the silverware cupboard.
src
I've been paying much closer attention to this year's Australian Open than I have in years past because just by luck my work schedule has me working later shifts and I can watch a lot of the games in the background since I work remotely. Don't tell my employer, but if the match gets really intense I don't do a lot of work and am mostly watching the TV. I don't think they will notice because I don't mean to brag, but I am a lot better at my job than most of the other people in the company so if I do 50% of what I am capable of, I am already doing more than 100% of the other guys. This is probably why they don't have a problem with me working remotely.
Anyway, the other night Fritz was playing against Stefanos Tsitsipas who is higher ranked than Fritz is. I loved this outcome for a couple of reasons: because I want to see Fritz excel and I also can't stand Tsisipas because he is one of those players that when his opponent is doing well or is on a "hot streak" he will claim that he needs a bathroom break and then spends 20 minutes in the toilet. This is an obvious tactic to kind of "ice" your opponent and it is a dirty trick. Since this has happened with Tsisipas on a number of occasions I can't stand the guy and I hope he loses ever time I see him playing.
This was Fritz' first ever top-10 win at a Grand Slam level and the final score was 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. In the last two sets Fritz was clearly the better player and had better stamina and I really enjoyed watching Stefanos shout and smash his rackets on the ground. Karma is a bitch isn't it!
Unfortunately for Taylor, he now has to face Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Even if you don't watch tennis I am sure you are aware of the fact that "Nole" is the best tennis player in the world right now and he basically seems unstoppable. By all accounts Taylor should lose this in straight sets but you never know! Crazy things could happen. Nobody is really thinking that Fritz can win this but he will likely enter the top 10 in the global rankings because of his performance in the Australian Open. He was previously ranked 12th in the world.
The match vs Nole is starting in less than an hour and I am really excited for it. I'm guessing it is going to be 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 for Novak, but the good news is that I like Nole as well so if he does win, which is very likely, I wont cry about that either. I believe they have faced one another 7 times and of course Djokovic has won in all of those competitions. He is the GOAT, so there is no shame in losing those matches.