Taylor Fritz wrote a message to himself after one of the losses in the past and it was eventually the starter of his meteoric rise.
There was never a doubt about the potential of the tall American. He broke into the Top 25 on the ATP Tour already in 2019, but for a few years, he waited for another step and major breakthrough. In 2021, Fritz was hovering around the 30th place, but soon, he would experience a fall out of the Top 40 for the first time in two years.
At the 2021 Wimbledon, the American played two difficult matches in the first two rounds, beating Brandon Nakashima 3-1, and Steve Johnson 3-2. But in the third round, he lost to then fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev in four sets, after winning the first set in a tie-break.
After the loss, Fritz left a note to himself that was shared by his girlfriend Morgan Riddle with a caption stating: "A note Taylor wrote himself on the bus at Wimbledon on my phone after he lost and dropped out of the Top 40."
"Nobody in the whole world is underachieving harder than you, you are so f*cking good but 40 in the world, get your f*cking s**t together."
Shortly after the loss, Fritz reached semifinals at Indian Wells, played final in St. Petersburg, and also reached Paris Masters quarterfinals. These results catapulted him to the 23rd place of the rankings, which at the time was his career-best.
One season after that, in 2022, the American won three of his five career titles, including the biggest triumph of his career in Indian Wells, and eventually ended the season as the world no. 9.
Now, he's the highest-ranked American and he recently became the first American to break into the Top 5 in 14 years. His message to himself was surely a part of the subsequent success and a clear indication of his belief in himself.
Fritz knew he had a level to beat the best but felt like he was underachieving at the time, and now a couple of years later, we know that he was right.
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