Taylor Fritz: ‘You’re never going to accomplish all the goals if…’

One of the disappointments of this Australian Open was Taylor Fritz, who left the tournament prematurely defeated in the second round against host Alexei Popyrin after a long battle that lasted five sets, three of which ended in tie breaks. The American, who was unable to confirm the good things he had been showing for many months, spoke on Twitter about Novak Djokovic’s injury. The 25-year-old American, who by the way was defeated by the Serb in 2021 in the first round of the Melbourne major, wanted to express his opinion on the physical condition of the Serb and on those analyzes that indicate that the winner of 21 Grand Slams is exaggerating. or even faking your injury. “My opinion that nobody probably cares about is this. 80% of gamers always have some problem (severity levels vary), but honestly, everyone is always a little bummed… the media only focus on the best players, so their problems get more attention.” These were the words used by Fritz when commenting on the injury suffered by Novak Djokovic, also stating that there are different players who show their pain unlike others: “In addition, some players are more explicit when talking about injuries than others. I don’t think people fake injuries, but I think sometimes players stretch the severity of the injury because it depresses them and helps them play better (which is honestly fine, do what’s good for you).” The American then concluded that he does not believe that talking about injuries is unsportsmanlike. “I don’t think it’s done unsportsmanlikely, and before people get defensive, I’m not talking about anyone in particular, it’s just what I see as a player, sometimes there are serious injuries, sometimes people exaggerate it.”

Fritz disappointed in Australia

Taylor Fritz has said that the belief about being the best in the world is key to turning pro at a tender age. “Turning pro at 17, I would say, is every top junior’s fear. What I did so well in the juniors, what if I don’t make it. I felt like a switch flip as soon as I turned pro, and I was like ‘now it’s all real’. Everything I did before was awesome, but now it’s like ‘this is … this is it’. I’ve always known like, how can you ever be the best in the world, if you don’t truly, like, believe you can be. You’re never going to accomplish all the goals if you want to if you actually have that belief that you can do it.”