ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2023

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/M. Mmoh

6-2, 6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Taylor, please.

Q. Do you feel like maybe you're a little bit under the radar in terms of how well you've played on clay? Very consistent season. I would guess you would think it's your best season on clay of your career.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah. I mean, I've had the best results on clay, for sure, this season. Also, being a way higher seed the whole season in tournaments that I've been before definitely helps a lot too. You get more favorable draws.

But yeah, I've been definitely playing my best. I think the results could have been a lot better. I think I let a couple of matches that I should have won slip away from me, and it's pretty disappointing. But the overall level consistently has been much higher than usual, I would say, on clay for me.

Q. I know you get those matches for you semifinals are important, and you've had a few, Monte-Carlo. Almost every tournament you've been in has been a semifinal. You would like to take the next step. There must be a little bit of hope that you've played well and you have some energy, and maybe this is the place you make the breakout.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, it's interesting how it works out because last year I was super up and down. I either lost first or second round in tournaments, or I just won the tournament.

Last year every single tournament I made semifinals, and I won. Then this year it's the opposite. I'm not having a lot of early exits. I'm seeing myself pretty deep in tournaments, consistently playing a lot better, I'd say. But yeah, I've just lost some of those later-stage matches this year. That wasn't the case last year.

So I just have to keep putting myself in these situations, and I'll win some eventually you know.

Q. Last question for me is about analytics. I know you are a very analytical mind. You and Michael have these deep discussions that we've seen on TV. Are you an analytics guy? I also wonder if I can also ask: Have you looked around and seen that a player like Novak Djokovic for the last five or six years has used it a lot, and has that influenced your decision to maybe want to find out more about it and use it more?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I think it's good in some situations, but I also think too much information sometimes can just overload you. I have scouted -- when we do analytics, I have always done them myself, just scout matches and track where someone is maybe hitting certain shots. Then I've gone and played matches, and they've just done the complete opposite of the trends that I've kind of watched them do.

It's nothing crazy. I like to know simple things. I can watch someone's match, and I can pick out certain shots that they like to hit under pressure and what side is maybe stronger in certain situations and stuff like that. I don't need analytics to tell me that.

The only analytics I really like is probably just knowing where someone likes to serve. But, to be honest, the analytics are a lot of times skewed because they don't show actually attempts on serving spots. They show serving spots, like, hit.

Someone might be 50/50 on what serve was made, but maybe they attempted to go one way like way more than the other way. So, yeah, I try not to, I guess, look too deep into the analytics.

Yeah, certain things, like serve placement, stuff like that is important.

Q. It was around this time last year that we first heard about the Netflix documentary "Break Point," and that you were going to be one of the featured players. I'm a Netflix subscriber. I really enjoyed watching the series. I noticed that unlike other documentaries, there are no big tragedies, there are no wild and crazy conspiracy theories, and there are no unsolved mysteries. Do you have any idea how we might be able to spice up the series? Maybe a wild conspiracy theory. What are your thoughts on the series?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I think, look, it wasn't really -- myself and the players aren't the target audience for the series. You know, we know what's going on. I think it's definitely aimed towards people that aren't tennis fans already.

I think for people like that it did a great job of explaining and showing. I've heard very good feedback from people that aren't involved in the tennis world.

But, yeah, I don't know, they're not trying to step on people's toes and then cause all this drama because the thing is, there's just not that much drama going on, I guess, behind closed doors.

I think to be fair, this year there's been a lot more on-court arguments, stuff like that. Maybe they can put it in there, spice it up, give a bit of that, but I don't know. I feel like they definitely don't want to create a story that's not there.

Q. There's a huge progression obviously with the American men at the moment. Loads of guys knocking on the door of majors like yourself and Frances and Tommy Paul. Is there a friendly or not-so-friendly rivalry between you all to see who can go the furthest and who can break that?

TAYLOR FRITZ: It's super friendly. Obviously you say Frances and Tommy, it's two of my absolute best friends. I'm happy for both of them when they have good results. I think all of us, we're all very close friends, but at the same time, of course, all of us want to be the first one to have that big breakthrough.

If any one of us won a slam, the guys that didn't would be happy for them, but then they would also be really upset that it wasn't them. I think that's all a mutual feeling and to be expected. We're all competitors, and we all want to be the one to do it.