US OPEN

August 29, 2022

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

B. HOLT/T. Fritz

6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Taylor, can you just give us your thoughts on the match itself.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Felt like in the beginning, probably like first two sets, it was just really, really windy, swirly. I came out trying to be aggressive. Just felt like I just couldn't hit the ball at all. Just couldn't feel confident taking a cut. The ball was moving around so much. I didn't really know what to do.

I just had to play safe. Honestly, the first set was probably the worst set I played, and that was the one I ended up winning.

Yeah, I just didn't have that confidence kind of when I was taking a cut, being aggressive, that it was just going to feel good. A lot of that was because of how windy it was.

Towards the end when I started to get some better timing, it was dark. It just felt heavy out there. I really felt like I was trying to put a lot into the ball and it just wasn't really going anywhere.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said at Wimbledon after the Nadal match, it was about as bad as you ever felt. Big disappointment tonight. Does it feel as bad as that or different?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, it sucks. I mean, feels awful. Been playing really well. Had really high hopes. I feel like an idiot for thinking that I could win this thing, win the US Open. I can't go out and play a match like that. It sucks. I feel awful.

Just my level tonight is just not kind of what I've come to expect of myself as a player. To be honest, a lot of times in a match like this I can get away with playing like that, kind of toughing it out.

A lot of credit to Brandon. He played a lot of really good points. He honestly played well. I think a lot of times I get through these type of matches sometimes.

Q. Sometimes when you know someone well, does he know your game better than anyone?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. It definitely makes it a lot tougher, the facts that we know each other so well, practice with each other a lot. It's a big neutralizer, for sure. I probably would have preferred any of the other qualifiers, even though he was probably the lowest-ranked one.

I think just to play someone like that, that you've known forever, it definitely makes the match a lot harder.

But I still didn't think it was really going to matter. I was super confident going into the match. I didn't feel like I was going to lose the match until I literally lost the last point.

But, yeah, I mean, I've known him for a really long time. I think it definitely makes it tougher.

Q. Stefanos lost within seconds of you. He was telling us it played in his mind that he wanted to go far her, get him close to No. 1. Is the fact that these slams are up for grabs, the older generation is phasing out, is that playing in your head? Is that something you have to learn to manage before these big tournaments?

TAYLOR FRITZ: No. Honestly, I don't think so. I feel like Wimbledon was the same type of situation. I had a lot of confidence going into the tournament, like I did this week. I saw the draw kind of open up. I felt like I had a good draw. I had all the reason in the world to be, I guess, nervous about playing matches there, and I worked myself through the draw really, really smoothly.

I went out tonight and, like I said, it was really windy, gusty, and swirly. I just tried to take cuts and tried to play my tennis. It just felt awful coming off my racquet.

I had to kind of fall back to a Plan B of playing a lot safer, not really playing my style. He beat me at that.