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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2019

Taylor Fritz

Paris, France

T. FRITZ/B. Tomic

6-1, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was it like playing Bernie when he's performing like that?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Like what?

Q. Showing a lack of animation and just the way -- very casual style of play.
TAYLOR FRITZ: It went, like, up and down, so it was kind of like -- it was kind of weird. In the first set, he hit some good shots but not move, like, a lot. So I felt like if I kind of just worked the point, then I would win.

And then the second set he started, like, not -- you know, he started moving and playing -- I thought he started playing very well.

And for a couple games there we were in, like, a battle. The game where I broke him at 4-All was like -- I think we had, like, two, 20 ball rallies back to back. So it was -- it definitely kind of like -- I got used to one way and then he started playing very tough, and so it kind of turned into a fight there.

But I knew if I could get past that and break him and then serve out the set, then it would kind of go back to how it was before. So it was just you have to stay focused and kind of like be ready for whatever, I guess.

Q. There was a bit of an odd juncture at the changeover that I tuned into halfway through. What happened there?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Which one?

Q. There was a call for medical but then they weren't needed or --
TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I think he said he wasn't feeling well, and then he looked at her, the chair, maybe, like, a point in and said he was, like, Nah, I'm good, don't worry about it. But they still just came. It was just some confusion, I think.

Q. I think it's your first main draw win here. What does that do to validate that, yeah, I can play on this surface and are you enjoying it?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Not that much to be honest. I didn't actually realize it was my first one here until they told me afterwards. I wasn't really thinking about that because I've been doing pretty well so far on the clay. So I'm pretty confident that I can play on clay, so I didn't really need, like, a win here to validate it.

You know, I think a win, I mean, in my opinion, a win at any other ATP tournament is just as tough as getting a win here. It's all about, like, you know, just the week. The people you play every single week at the ATP events are all people you could play at a Grand Slam, so it's really every win is the same.

But it's nice to get my first win here, and I'm looking forward to trying to keep it going.

Q. You had a good run in Lyon. Some players opt not to play that tournament. They think that's kind of too much with the clay court season. Why did you decide to play there?
TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, I think, one, the week before the Slams is always -- you have a good chance to go far, especially if you're not, like, a top player. I understand not playing if you're, like, a favorite to win Roland Garros or to win whatever Slam ahead. Like, I get it. Like, if you're meant to make quarters or do better, then, yeah, don't play the week before.

But I think it's a good opportunity for a lot of the guys ranked, like, 20 to 80 to pick up points and have a good result, and I personally like playing matches going into the Slam. I don't like doing training weeks and then playing the next week because I think it puts too much emphasis and too much pressure on that tournament that you have taken so much time just preparing for that.

And it shows, honestly, a lot of people that do training weeks before. They actually don't do that well, I feel like, a lot of times.

So that was more so my decision and, yeah, I think it's a good week to try to pick up points.

Q. And a follow-up. I believe if I'm not mistaken that you were there the day of the explosion downtown. Did that have any impact on you? On your travel?
TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, it scared me a little bit that something like that happened, like, so close because we were -- I think a lot of the players were at different hotels. The hotel we were at was half a mile away.

It was, like, the area that it happened, I had been going a block away to get food every day. So it was just a bit scary to me thinking. And then walking around to get dinner that night, after it happened, it was a bit scary.

And usually I don't get, like, alarmed by that kind of stuff. I'm pretty relaxed and don't worry so much. But, yeah, it was a bit scary, I guess, but it didn't change my travel plans or anything like that.

Q. You might have Bautista Agut again, who you beat in Lyon. How confident would you feel coming into that or playing Stevie next?
TAYLOR FRITZ: If I play Bautista, I'm going to have to play very well. I played very good, I thought, in Lyon and just barely got it done. So I know what I have to do. And if I can perform at the level I know I need to perform at, I feel confident winning, but it's not easy to play that well, you know. So, yeah, I feel confident that if I do what I need to do, I can win again and go to the next round.

And then Stevie, he's got me the last couple of times we've played. I got him the first time we played. So, I mean, I guess we'll see. I kind of have to rethink how I play him just because the last time I didn't really play him with the best strategy.

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