Since tennis is tennis in terms of international competition, United States of America It has always been a power due to its sports structure, economic possibilities and its own tradition. Therefore, it must be surprising that for more than a decade, or maybe more (since Andy Roddick left), none of his players could talk to each other in the finals or discuss world supremacy. Numerous tennis players have emerged with good chances, but none capable of arguing so loudly. Right now, Taylor Harry Fritz is the most voted. At the age of 25, he left behind positive feelings at Wimbledon – when he narrowly missed out on his quarter-final duel against Rafa Nadal – although only the (near) future will reveal just how far he will go.
Nadal beat him 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 and 7-6 (10-4) in a match that lasted four hours and 20 minutes on the Center Court of La Catedral, but which ended bitter for both Due to his abdominal injury – which struck him during that fight – the Spaniard was unable to continue in the tournament (and paved the way for Nick Kyrgios to the final). Fritz, for his part, affirmed this “This is probably the most painful loss of my career. When the match was over, I wanted to cry.”. He complained that “when Nadal was worse, in the second set, I let him be more offensive.”
This Sunday the American (9th) will clash again with the Spanish (2nd) in his debut at the ATP Finals in Turin which will be held from 1pm to 8pm in the city in Northern Italy. Both share the Green Group with the Norwegian Casper Ruud (3rd) and the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (6th). While the Red Group will have Stefanos Tsitsipas (3rd, Greece) Daniil Medvedev (5th, Russia) Andrey Rublev (7th, Russia) and Novak Djokovic (8th, Serbia).
The number 1 in the ranking, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, will not be able to participate due to an abdominal injury and your position is at risk.
Fritz is one of the few tennis players who has had the luxury of beating Nadal this season, in March, and that meant his first title in a Masters 1000: Indian Wells. Thus he becomes the first American to win that title since Agassi did it way back in 2001. From that moment on, Fritz climbs the rankings and after winning the ATP 500 in Tokyo, his third title of the season, manages to enter the top ten
The origins of Taylor Fritz
Born October 28, 1997 in Rancho Santa Fe, a small town near San Diego, California, Taylor Fritz offers one of the most curious stories within the men’s scene: his mother, Kathy May, was a standout player in the 1970s and the family ties are just as significant.
Kathy won seven titles on the senior women’s circuit, monopolized in her time by Evert and Navratilova, and married another well-known tennis player, Brian Teacher. Originally from San Diego, he joined college tennis at the prestigious University of California-Los Angeles, whose team led first by Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors then dominated the major titles (our own Tito Vázquez also played there) .
Maestro was destined for important posts when he decided to devote himself to professional tennis and to postpone his studies (which he then resumed to graduate in Economics). But that era of great tennis dominated by Borg, Connors and Vilas didn’t leave much room for the others and Teacher advanced to the second rowreaching his best score -7th place in the ATP- in the middle of 1981. That year too he put his name in a privileged place: champion of the Australian Open by defeating local Kim Warwick in the final, the same of just three days earlier he had barred the way for our Guillermo Vilas, who was aiming for his third consecutive title on Kooyong’s grass.
That title of Brian Teacher, the only won in the Slams, had its crumb: it came from a long tour and a few hours before the start of the Australian Open, his wife Khaty called him on the phone and left him in shock: “I want a divorce”. They had been married for two years and the Master didn’t understand anything. He then told it: “I canceled my registration for the tournament and I called my father-in-law, I told him I was going home immediately to fix the situation. He replied that it was not a good idea, he advised me to take a break in Hawaii and reflect. However, Teacher retraced his steps and asked the director of the Australian Open to let him participate. He got lucky, a spot opened up due to another last-minute defection and Maestro came in as guest tennis player… Likewise, his marriage was over. Kathy May was the daughter of David May II, the heir to the Macy’s empire which at that time included 320 stores in the immense geography of the United States. And Kathy’s maternal grandfather, Mervyn LeRoy, was a famous Hollywood producer, whose jobs included none other than “The Wizard of Oz”. For all of this and more, it was surprising that, once she divorced the Master, Kathy’s second husband was a firefighter, named Don Paben, with whom they had two children.
Brian Teacher, meanwhile, continued to be active on the pro circuit until his retirement forced by hip and spinal injuries. He became a frontline coach, Counting Agassi and Greg Rusedsky among his main studentsand still maintains its “BT Tennis Academy” in California today.
Kathy, after the second of those marriages, had a relapse with a man who came from tennis: Harry Fritz, underachiever but renowned coach. And they are Taylor’s parents.
For Taylor Fritz, therefore, tennis was born from the cradle. He had outstanding teachers and trainers like David Nainkin and Paul Annacone, and already from his youth campaigns he has appeared strongly: champion of the US Open 2015, finalist of Roland Garros, as well as semifinalist of Wimbledon on two occasions. The transition to professionalism was as hard as it happens to most, but he had important experiences in challengers and minor tournaments, until he settled in the big events of the circuit: Wimbledon was the best, while in Australia he reached the fourth round first this year , while in France and at the US Open he has yet to make it past the third round.
He got married very young, with another tennis player, Rachel Pedraza, they had a son (Jordan) but also separated after a short time. Now, during Taylor Fritz’s matches, the TV focuses on her new partner, Morgan Riddle, model and influencer who helped Taylor Fritz to venture even more intensely on social media, especially on Tik Tok. “Anything he will do to get people’s attention to tennis in the United States will be very good,” justifies the player, who also has investments in e-Sports, showing his love for video games there. He has also cited Pete Sampras as his tennis “idol” though, in terms of achievements, he can hardly emulate him.
Source: Clarin
