ROLAND GARROS

October 2, 2020

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

L. SONEGO/T. Fritz

7-6, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just give me your overall thoughts on the match. I think you had some chances in the first-set tiebreak and some set points in the third, and the last tiebreak.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, it was a really tough match. I thought I played well throughout the whole thing.

You know, he just ended up winning the big points better than I did, really. A lot of the big points I didn't do much wrong, either. He just won them.

So, you know, the first set, no breaks either way. I was up one mini break in the breaker. Maybe just didn't serve quite as well as I should have there. That was a tough one to lose.

Second set got broken once from 40-Love up, and then had 15-30s, 30-Alls, chances. I was in almost every single game to break him that set.

I mean, I think I was setting a record for most points lost one point away from getting a breakpoint. I lost so many Love-30s, 15-30s, 30-All, deuce. To think I only had one breakpoint the whole second set is like crazy. I had so many chances.

One break, lose that set. Then third set came out after the rain delay. Really don't think I could have played it much better. Had my chances to break. Breakpoint, breakpoint, set point I had, was like I played it great.

Then in the breaker, you know, the only thing really was I had that one set point serving for it, and I hit a good first serve, good approach shot, and then hit a volley, felt good. Drop volley. It just went right in the tape. It felt really good. I thought I hit it well.

That's tough. Then it sucks the way I lost it, as well. You know, his service point at whatever the score was, like 17-All or 18-All, I'm not sure, but he misses the ball long, no one calls it. I should have stopped. I should have stopped the point and seen it.

I'm not used to playing on clay, used to seeing the marks when they come off. It was very tough for me in that moment to just stop and take the chance of the, like, losing the point if the ball was in.

It definitely hurt to see after that it was out. I would have had another set point serving for it. Then I go and lose it and he played a great point.

You know, like, there really wasn't much I did wrong. It just hurts to kind of lose like that.

Q. Tiebreak, final one, did you break a string facing a match point on the first serve? How crazy was that? Changed a racquet right at one point when you're facing a match point, you changed a racquet and you break a string.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, it's crazy because I never ever break strings, and this was a completely fresh racquet. So I think it's just because it's been, it's so rainy and wet. I actually, two of the strings on the racquet popped when I hit that serve.

I told myself, Just relax, take your time, don't stress. I just walked over, changed my racquet. I knew I was going to have to come back and serve a second serve down match point, but I just took my time, relaxed. Went back and then I played -- I played a good point and saved match point there.

Q. Nine set points for you in the third set. Seven match points for him. 30-minutes' tiebreaker. Did you ever play something like that? How crazy it was and how difficult it was? And at the end also, how surprised you are that Sonego was playing those forehands with almost never missing? The match, in my opinion, was of a great, great quality. I don't know what you think.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, that's what I think, as well.

I'm gonna be up all night thinking about what I could have done different, especially in that third set, like on every single set point I made the return and I made like pretty good returns on almost all of them.

He made first serves every single time he was down set point, and I made the return every single time.

It's tough, you know. I think that's why the tiebreaker went so long is because both of us were playing so well when we were down. You know, I'd be down match point. I'd play a great point. He'd be down set point. He'd play a great point.

It was just the level was so high, neither one of us were missing. I just kept hoping I keep making these returns, making the returns, like one of these forehands he might miss.

But he was in a groove with it all match. He wasn't giving me anything. I was having to really be aggressive and work for every single point.

You know, I have definitely never played a tiebreaker like that and probably never will again.

Q. Three winning dropshots of him on the tiebreaker, included the last one. You played one very good during the tiebreak. He missed volley which maybe he could have not missed. You didn't miss anything easy, I think.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, both of us didn't give each other anything. Like the two -- he made two mistakes in the whole, like, the whole tiebreaker. It was a forehand at 5-4 when he was serving. He missed a forehand inside in.

Then when we switched sides at, might have been 6-All, he missed that forehand swinging volley. Aside from that, no mistakes.

The dropshots, the dropshots were working well because he was pushing me back so far with his forehand. He was hitting his forehand so big. So, yeah.

Q. Do you think another chance, he would have to play maybe Schwartzman probably, do you think the way he plays he can win?

TAYLOR FRITZ: If he plays like that, I don't see why not. If he plays like that, he's not missing anything, he's ripping the ball on both sides. He's serving lights out, crushing his forehand like -- you know, I lost a lot of big points in that match, and it could have gone either way. But I have to give him credit, like, he played very, very well. He deserved it.

Q. Considering the fact that in my opinion this was one of the best games of Roland Garros, best match of Roland Garros till now, do you think the score was too severe for you?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, all the sets, like I said, he deserved to win that. He won the big points, you know.

But, I mean, yeah, there was one service break the whole match. Neither one of us faced many breakpoints. Like three sets, three sets on clay, one break, those close tiebreakers, it's just really tough to lose that. I was ready to take that third set and play and just keep going.

You know, I really thought that's how it was going to be. I thought I definitely deserved to maybe win a set. But again, he deserves it. He played the big points so well. Never gave me anything.

Like I said, made him play every single break, every single breakpoint, set point I had. It is what it is.

Q. You had played him before twice. I think on grass. Were you surprised the way he played today? Are you a bit surprised also about yourself on clay? Because you don't have so much experience on clay. Maybe you didn't expect to play so well. Because you played much better than against Travaglia in Rome.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I think the reason I played better this week is I like playing on clay, but typically going into a clay court season I get about three weeks to practice on clay or at least two before I actually go play tournaments.

And it doesn't come naturally to me, so it takes a couple of weeks for me to practice on it to kind of get going and start feeling it out.

Yeah, Rome and Hamburg were really tough for me, especially Rome because I go there straight after US Open, and I'm playing a match with maybe only playing like four or five days on clay when typically I get about three weeks to practice. So I definitely wasn't as sharp as I could have been in Rome.

I think maybe last year I surprised myself a little bit. I had good results last year on clay, but it works great for me. I have a lot of time on my forehand. I can really hit the ball big. I'm not surprised that I can play well on clay, because I really do like it.

And then as far as, you know, my other two meetings with him both were grass. He was a lot more rushed. I could play his backhand much more. He didn't have as much time to get around and hit forehands.

And, yeah, he was much, much better than our two previous meetings, but I knew he was going to be -- I knew that on the clay his forehand would be so much more deadly. He would make a lot less mistakes.

You know, like I said, he played great, but I expected it.