Taylor Fritz - "Don't think people fake injuries"
Taylor Fritz , the US number one, commented on the injury problem on the ATP tour in a long thread on Twitter.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 24, 2023, 03:11 pm
The Australian Open 2023 was much shorter for Taylor Fritz than actually hoped for after the strong performances at the United Cup. It was already over in round two against Alexei Popyrin, for Fritz other Americans jumped into the breach. On Twitter, the 25-year-old, who is usually rather taciturn in on-court interviews, formulated a few thoughts on the injury problem on the ATP tour. Also given the problems that Novak Djokovic is carrying around in Melbourne.
"80 percent of the players always have some kind of problem (the severity varies), but actually everyone always has something," writes Fritz. "The media usually focuses on the top players, which means that their problems get more attention."
Fritz doesn't mention any names
Fritz himself also had minor ailments on the way to his greatest career success last year in Indian Wells, as is documented in detail in the Netflix documentary "Break Point". The same was true for final opponent Rafael Nadal.
"Some players just talk more about their injuries than others," Fritz continued. "I don't think people fake injuries. What I think is that players sometimes make their injuries a little more dramatic to take some pressure off themselves.” He has no problem with that. Everyone should do what helps them.
Taylor Fritz explicitly did not want to name any names. He doesn't think that's unfair, by the way. "And before you get upset, I'm not talking about anyone in particular."
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open
laver arena