Taylor Fritz might be the most infamous man in Paris right now after he literally 'shut up' the crowd last night at Roland Garros.
He was facing the last French player in the main draw of the event and a very hostile Parisian crowd. He endured quite a bit during the match including the crowd intentionally delaying his serve in the final game of the match.
He didn't like and he let them know after the match which caused the crowd to let him have it. After being booed for several minutes Fritz openly trolled the crowd with his post-match comments earning himself another round of booes. It was quite a sight and John McEnroe, who has experience with crowds, loved every bit of it as he revealed to Eurosport.
I can relate to fans being against me, so respect for Taylor. I love that. [A hostile crowd] can be extremely intimidating, but it also can be very inspiring. You can use that negative fuel to your advantage. I’ve got to hand it to Fritz, he’s done an incredible job getting himself in tip-top shape, he’s one of the best ball strikers that you’ll see on a tennis court, and he battles.
Fritz certainly didn't back down against the crowd as he embraced the moment and rose up to it. Rinderknech played a very good match, quite a bit above his level probably but Fritz remained composed with McEnroe admitting that Fritz has that intensity in him.
He’s got some personality. I’ve been saying this for 50 years, but you play one-on-one against someone, you need that intensity. I think Taylor rose to the occasion. He’s a better player than Rinderknech in my opinion, I don’t think it’s a huge upset that he won that match. But I like to see a little confrontation, a la [Daniil] Medvedev a couple of years ago at the (US) Open.
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