The week leading up to the U.S. Open has been busier than usual for Taylor Fritz.
He rarely arrives less than a week before a tournament, but is in New York seven days before the Grand Slam begins. “Just to give myself a little bit of time to get used to everything,” he says. Fritz, 26, loves playing in front of the Flushing crowd. “Obviously for the Americans it's a Grand Slam on home soil, so it's a really special week,” he says. terms of service“It's a really great feeling to have the crowd cheering for you during the game. It always helps. I always feel like I play better when I'm in America.”
Tennis will have a pop culture moment in 2024, but it will be mainly The ChallengersThe film, directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Zendaya, Mike Feist and Josh O'Connor, has not been seen by Fritz, but said, “I'd be surprised if this movie doesn't inspire a lot of people to start watching tennis.” What's more, tennis is becoming more widely recognized, with players like Fritz, Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz making a name for themselves off the court.
Fritz, for example, has been exploring opportunities in the fashion world. In March, he signed with BOSS to become a global brand ambassador and wear their clothes on the court. “Fashion off the court is something I'm really interested in,” Fritz says. “I just want the clothes that I wear on the court to feel really right and be really fun to wear on the court. The company has worked very closely with me to get things right and comfortable for me. So far, it's been great.”
He has “a lot” of input into what he wears on the court: “You can always give feedback, and this feels good. I really like this material and that kind of thing is really nice, because that wasn't something I could do before.”
He's noticed that fans are starting to take an interest in players' style, just as the fashion industry is embracing tenniscore. “Tennis fashion is becoming big,” he says. “There are a lot of people who love tennis fashion, and a lot of brands are getting into it. It's something you can wear when you're playing tennis, and something you can wear when you're not playing tennis, so it's versatile. I think tennis fashion is getting bigger and bigger.”
He has been intentional about building his brand off the court, perhaps taking cues from his girlfriend, influencer Morgan Liddle.
But, of course, his focus is on the match. Fritz is currently the top-ranked American male player and comes to New York fresh off winning a bronze medal in men's doubles with Tommy Paul at the Paris Olympics. Bringing home a medal “meant a lot,” he says. He continues: “I was really disappointed when we lost in the semifinals because I thought we had a good chance of winning the gold medal and that was what we wanted, but the moment we won meant a lot. [bronze] “At least I could bring home a medal. It was my first Olympics and my main goal was to win a medal in at least one of the sports I competed in.”
He explains that his mindset going into the Olympics was different than he would be for a normal tournament: He rarely plays doubles, but in Paris “I didn't really prioritize anything. I just felt it was the same whether I could win a medal or do my best. I could win a mixed medal, I could win a doubles medal, I could win a singles medal.”
The overall experience, he says, was unforgettable: “It was really amazing to represent the U.S. at the Olympics. The best part was sitting at the front of the boat for the Opening Ceremony. Coco was the flag bearer, so the USA Tennis and USA Basketball players were sitting at the front. Just hanging out with them and having the best seats in the Opening Ceremony was really awesome” (though the pouring rain “wasn't ideal,” he admits).
Gauff's role as flag bearer at the Olympics may be a sign of the growing profile of American tennis players: For the first time since 1996, before Fritz was born, five American men and five American women are ranked in the top 20 in the latest ATP and WTA singles rankings.
Heading into the British Open, he's hyper-aware of the pressure on American players, and he says it's taken him a long time to be able to block out the noise and expectations.
“At the end of the day, you don't think about the worst. You don't think about the bad things that could happen. You just go out there and play. That's what I've learned. In the past, I've had Grand Slam weeks where I've been really anxious. It's a really important week to perform, and then I've lost. I learned from that experience to just go out there and not worry too much about it. Even if So Too much. It's hard to explain, but you have to care and not care at the same time.”
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