THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2024

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/A. Zverev

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

THE MODERATOR: Taylor, through to the quarterfinals. You must be pretty happy with your performance.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, really happy obviously. I think second time in the quarters. When you do it like that, I think it feels even better than the last time.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What did you change tactically from the third set onwards?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Not too much. I think, I mean, in the first set I was returning really close up, chipping forehands. To be honest, I mean, I can have a lot of success returning a serve wherever. You can stand anywhere. It's not going to feel great.

When I backed it up in maybe it was the end of the first or the second, I felt like I was putting more returns in the court.

No change really in the third. Change in the second. Felt good. Felt like maybe at some point I could grab a break. The main thing was to just keep holding serve, keep being aggressive.

Halfway through the first set I was trying to move the ball around a little more. I came out attacking going into his forehand probably a little too much. He was ready for it. He was hitting his forehand really well.

I wanted to just move my forehand around a bit more. A big change as well was second set tiebreaker, I played a little safe on some shots thinking he would also play safe. He kind of beat me to the punch.

My main thing going into the fourth set breaker was to pull the trigger on the shots as soon as I saw the opportunity.

Q. We're all curious about the exchange at the net. We asked him about it. Also his opinion about your quality. He said, Basically, look, I was playing on one leg today, which was surprising. Could you enlighten us on what you were talking about and what you thought about the effect of all that on the match.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, at the net, like, it's no big deal. I think he felt that he was for parts, I guess towards the end of the fifth at least, kind of limping around a bit. I think he was annoyed at some people in my box just being loud, cheering for me.

Honestly, I can't hear. I don't know. Like, no big deal. He said it's nothing towards me or anything like that.

I mean, as far as his injury, like, I don't know. I thought the match seemed extremely normal until I was up the break in the fifth, then I feel like that's when I felt like he was limping and moving.

I don't know. I can't speak to the seriousness of the injury. I tried to play the match extremely straight up. I hyperextended my knee pretty bad before. For me, it's different for everyone, but when I did it, I was a little sore, felt like my knee was stretched out, but I played normally, pretty normally, the following days.

Going into it, I was just trying to I guess approach the match as if he's healthy. Again, I can't speak for how healthy he is or not.

Yeah, that's what we talked about at the net. It's not a big deal. It's all good.

Q. What in the end would you say you're most pleased about your performance today?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, obviously I can say kind of sticking with it from two sets down. I feel like I'm always going to do that, especially when I feel like I was playing good tennis.

I think what I was the most pleased about was my game from the ground, like backhand, forehand. Once we got into the rallies, I felt like I was playing about as good as I could play.

Q. Do you think tennis needs a Masters 1000 on grass? There's conversations it's going to happen on Saudi Arabia. Andy Murray suggested one in Latin America.

TAYLOR FRITZ: I think there should definitely be a Masters on grass. I think that's, like, we have Masters on every surface, several on every surface. This is a huge part of the year.

I mean, people love grass court season. Why not add a Masters? I think it should, how people do in this part of the season, should probably reflect more on the rankings. I think having a Masters 1000 would be a big step in the right direction for that.

Q. Zverev came in here and said his issue was with people in your box that aren't from the tennis world. That you and your coach were respectful so it would be someone else. What's your thoughts on that?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, I don't know. Like I said, I can't hear. I can't hear. I don't really hear my box when I'm playing like that. I didn't hear anyone being, like, extremely loud.

He's totally allowed to be annoyed if they were being annoying. Like, again, I don't know. That's one of the things I asked him at the net, Who was it?

Yeah, I mean, again, it's not a big thing. It's all good.

Q. Looking ahead to your next opponent, somebody you've played before. What are your thoughts about this matchup and the key for you?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, the key is always going to be serving well and returning well. I feel like if I do those two things well, then I like my chances.

Luckily for me, it should hypothetically be easier to return serve than it was today in the next match. But yeah, he's tricky. He's been playing well. He made the finals of Queen's.

This will be my first quarterfinal where I'm the more experienced person in slam quarterfinals, having played Novak twice and Rafa once. Hopefully that will help me a little bit.

But I know I'm going to have to play well.

Q. It is also about Musetti and what you expect. Were you surprised? He always plays very much from behind the baseline. He was able to do a final at Queen's, a semifinal in Stuttgart. When he played you 2022 on grass, he was much worse player than is now on grass. Do you expect he could do so many progress?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I saw a bit of his first match at Queen's. I was very impressed. I thought he was playing well. I think he's made really good progress and shown a ton of improvement over the last, like, six months to a year on surfaces that aren't clay. He's shown that he can have results and play really good tennis on every surface.

Q. What do you enjoy the most about playing on grass?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I think what I enjoy the most on grass is just when you hit a good shot, you're rewarded for it. That's the case at some hard court tournaments, as well.

But one thing that just annoys me so much is we're playing sometimes with balls that are so dead and soft on a super slow court. I feel like I'm taking so much risk to hit like the best shot of and it's accomplishing nothing in the rally. I just feel like tennis should never be like that. If you take the risk and go for a shot, you should be rewarded for it. I think that's what I really love about grass.

Q. Can you compare this more to the first time. Can you compare this experience with that run to the Indian Wells title?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I don't know if I compare it so much to the Indian Wells run because, I don't know, I was barely scraping through some matches. I don't know. The weeks just feel a little different. I don't know.

Compared to the last Wimbledon quarter, I mean, my draw was as you would expect it to be when it came out. The seeds won. I played the players I guess I expected to play. It's a different feeling obviously coming from two sets down against a really good player, to be able to make the quarters.

I think last time around, draw opened up. I don't think I lost a set on the way to the quarters. It was kind of just, like, smooth sailing, cruise there. Obviously at the time I was so pumped to be in the quarters. It just feels a little bit better when you're made to work for it a little more.

Q. Do you feel you sneaked up on people here? You had your big success in Eastbourne. I'm curious how you experience that?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I don't think anyone could say that they were, like, I guess, not ready for me to be playing well when you literally win the tournament the week before Wimbledon. Obviously if you win the tournament the week before Wimbledon, then you're going to come into the tournament feeling pretty good, have confidence, and be a threat.

All players know how big of a deal just confidence is. It makes a world of difference, so... Any time you play someone that's been winning, I don't think it's ever a surprise if they're playing well.

Q. Did you and Tommy have any interaction at all yesterday after his win or today after yours? It's been a while since there have been a couple of American men to reach the quarters.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, a lot of interaction. A lot of interaction. It's tough not to. Tommy is one of my closest friends if not like my best friend. We talk all the time. See each other in the locker room, all that.

One thing that was funny, I played on that Court 2 that he played his match on around the same time. The way the sun was coming down in the first set, usually when the sun comes down you get the glare to your left side. This one, it's pretty straight on.

I was telling him in my match at this one point I was the most blind I've ever been in my life on a tennis court ever. He thought I was exaggerating. Then he played at the same time. He said he got broken and whiffed a ball during that game.

He told me today, Dude, you weren't lying about it.

I go, Dude, you literally couldn't see anything.

That's a funny thing we talked about from a previous match.