US OPEN

September 1, 2024

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/C. Ruud

3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Taylor, your thoughts on the match.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I thought I did well to kind of get through some tight service games in the second, stay in it, apply some scoreboard pressure until I was able to get the second, and then start to play better, find rhythm, do things a lot better in the third and fourth.

I felt like the first set and a half it was tough. He was playing really well. Serving super high percentage. I felt like I was getting outplayed.

Yeah, I was just able to keep it close until things kind of started going my way.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You talked a little bit about this in Cincinnati that over the years your perception of the rankings has changed as far as what you consider success. I wonder if that also applies to the slams as far as how deep you're going in the tournament.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, for sure. I think as you get better, your expectations go up. What makes you satisfied, what makes you happy as far as ranking and results, that also goes up.

I think in the past I've been very, very excited, very happy to make quarterfinals at slams. I think I'm at the point now where I'm still happy to make quarterfinals, but I wouldn't be happy with it ending here.

I definitely am at the point where I really want more than that.

Q. It wasn't that long ago that you were kind of leading America. Tommy hadn't really gotten his stuff together yet. Frances was struggling a little. Now you've got this critical mass of players who can all do well. How do you feel about that? Do you welcome having other guys carry some of that pressure?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I think it's always been shared, like, the pressure I guess amongst all of us. I don't think I've ever really been the one. I think there's always been someone else, at least one other person, doing really well.

Now we have, like, four or five guys that are all incredible players. It's great because I think we all -- I think we all push each other and make each other better, to be honest.

Q. Before you closed out the second set there was a point right before that where you had another set point. You missed the point, dropped your racquet kind of. You were clearly disappointed to not get over the line at that point. What were you kind of telling yourself in that moment, and how much confidence does it give you to sort of get through moments like that ultimately?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I was just pissed on that point because it was -- you couldn't really feel it, but it was pretty windy in there. I was against the wind on that side, and he chipped a ball.

It looked like it was floating long. I thought for sure the wind would push it long. Then it hit the line, and I was still ready to hit it, and the lines here skid a lot, so the ball just skidded off the line.

I was just kind of pissed. It's pretty unlucky the ball landed. Not only that it didn't go long, more just that it took a bad bounce off the line on my set point. I was, like, it's annoying. You know, I was, like, I'll just try to hit it on the next point.

Q. This is your fourth quarterfinals in a slam and the first here at the US Open. What does it take to go beyond this stage? Do you ever consider thinking of maybe taking it all?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah. I said on court I think last time I went into the US Open 2022 saying I think that I'm a contender and I can win it, and I lost first round.

So obviously the draw, it's impossible to not know that there's more of an opportunity with how the draw has opened up. It's still the same as it's been for me. Take it one match at a time. Worry about the person that's in front of me, and we'll go from there.

But, yeah, it's been a good week so far. The success in slams has been nice, but I am a little bit sick of just making it to the quarterfinals, and I definitely want to go further.

Q. We don't know yet who you'll be playing next, so taking each guy separately, first, Brandon. What are your thoughts on his rise, and how would you assess the opportunity to play against him?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I think he's been playing well. I think pretty normal, honestly. He was playing really well. I think he got up to probably, like -- I could be wrong -- but I think ranked around 30 a couple of years ago. Then dropped back and now he's back again.

I think that's sometimes normal with younger guys. You get up and then you fall back and then you're back again.

I just played him in Cincinnati. I thought he was serving incredibly well. I think that's probably a big part of a lot of the success that he's having right now is he's serving incredibly well. It's the most important part of the game really.

Yeah, that would be an interesting quarterfinal.

Q. Then with Zverev I remember vividly speaking with you after the match at Wimbledon. Zverev said he was really debilitated. He didn't put much stock in what happened on the court. Your view was quite different. How would you describe your head-to-head with him and what happened at Wimbledon?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Our head-to-head, we kind of go back and forth. I feel like the last five or six times we've played it's literally been I win one, he wins one, and so on.

I feel like we play close matches. It can go either way. A lot of it depends on the serve. If one of us doesn't serve well or the other one returns really well, wins the big points, that's always going to be the difference-maker in the end.

Wimbledon was an interesting one because he won the first two sets, but I still felt like I was playing really well, so I kind of had that confidence to maybe take it one set at a time and see if I could bring it back. Because even though, yeah, I did lose the first two sets in that, I still felt like I was playing well.

Q. Two related things. You're a guy who is a well-known grinder today, and you did it really kind of going away, so you must be pleased with your fitness I presume. Can you just talk about that a little bit? And, also, are you hitting your forehand a lot more top now?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Am I hitting a lot more top? It just depends on the ball I'm getting probably. If it's sitting up, then I'm flattening it out. If it's lower, then I'm spinning it more. I think I'm probably hitting it about the same as I always have.

Yeah, I mean, it was humid, really humid, in there with the roof closed. Yeah, physically tough, but I would say I'm pretty happy with my fitness to kind of get through it and not feel too bad.

It helps a lot when I serve well with the physical part of it because I end up playing a lot less long points and physical points. I get more time to rest when I'm getting some free points on my serve.

So the fact that I served pretty well definitely helped me stay fresh.