“Cheeky” Taylor Fritz is exactly what tennis needs.
This was a story told by fellow professional tennis player Nick Kyrgios, who praised the American athlete following their now-viral exchange at Wimbledon in which Fritz told his opponent to “have a good flight home” after his second-round win.
“This is what sports need,” said the Australian Posted on Friday XAlong with eyeball and airplane emojis.
“@Taylor_Fritz97 How cheeky…”
Thursday’s match between Fritz, 26, and Linder Knech, 28, was a rematch of Fritz’s win in the second round at last year’s French Open.
Fritz silenced the booing crowd at the time, and Lindel-Knech referred to the moment before Thursday’s meeting.
“The atmosphere will be quieter (than at Roland Garros) and he won’t cry as much,” Lindel Knef said. According to Tennis.com:.
“He complained a bit, saying it was too loud. I don’t hate him, but he was wrong if he thought the French crowd would send him kisses between points.”
Fritz, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2022, ultimately used message board material to beat the Frenchman.
“Of course it gives me more passion,” said Fritz, who will face Chile’s Alejandro Tabillo in the third round.
“I’m a very level-headed person. I don’t do anything to upset people. If someone goes out of their way to attack me, I just don’t accept it. It’s given me that extra passion to win.”
“When we shook hands I simply said, ‘Have a good flight home.'”
When Linder-Knech mentioned that he still competes in doubles, Fritz offered a pointed reply.
“I said, ‘Congratulations. Good for you,’ and he started saying, ‘Why are you saying this?’ I said, ‘Hey, you know what you said. You know what you said.’ You can’t disrespect me before the game and expect me to be nice to you after the game,” Fritz said.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Kyrgios has been covering this year’s tournament despite continuing to miss out due to injury.
He reached the Wimbledon men’s final in 2022, losing to Novak Djokovic.
