Taylor Fritz recently lost his status as the number one US player, but he quickly regained it and fully believes he's capable of winning Grand Slams, at least according to Mike Bryan.
The American made his maiden ATP final in 2016 in Memphis when he was only 18 years old. At 26 now, the American has won 8 titles so far, including his biggest one in 2022 at the Indian Wells Open, where he beat Rafael Nadal in the final.
He's also played at the ATP Finals and peaked at number 5 on the rankings in February of last year, so he's certainly a player who has a lot of potential. He just needs to show more consistency, which has been mostly an issue for him.
He's also consistently failed in the biggest matches outside of that Indian Wells Open final, which is certainly concerning. Many assumed that his 2022 win in Indian Wells would be a springboard moment for him, and it was in many ways, but he never quite fully took off.
Since then, he's peaked but also fallen down, dropping as far as number 15 on the rankings this year. He's consistently performed well, with 35 wins this year as well, but he never quite got off as well as some assumed he could.
In fact, he's been overtaken by Tommy Paul as the best-ranked US player for a moment after holding that position for a fairly long time. Still, even with all of that, Fritz fully believes he is capable of going even further.
He believes he is capable of winning Grand Slams, as was told by former US legendary player Mike Bryan. He spoke ahead of the Olympics, where he'll be part of the US tennis team, helping players perform their best, and one of the players he'll be working with is Fritz.
"He’s got a great coaching staff, and he’s really confident. He’s worked a lot on his movement, so he’s covering quite a lot of defence but he brings a lot of firepower. He thinks he’s the best, his head is very strong, he actually believes he can win Grand Slams."
Fritz has definitely improved as a player over the years, but he's yet to crack the code. This year's Wimbledon was a really strong showing from him, but it ended in a disappointing loss to Lorenzo Musetti, who is not known as a good grass player.
Had Fritz won that match, he would have found himself in the semi-final against Novak Djokovic, and who knows what might have happened there. He might have made his maiden Grand Slam final, which would be a step up from his previous performances.
While he's not yet amongst the players expected to win Grand Slams, it's pretty evident that Fritz is close. Mike Bryan, on the other hand, will try to use his Olympic experience, which includes winning a gold medal in 2012 and bronze medals in 2008 and 2012, to help the American team achieve similar success.
"It’s going to be fun to help the guys at the Olympics. We obviously felt it was one of the biggest tournaments during our careers so just to see the excitement in all the guy’s faces when they are there – and a lot of the guys are there for the first time.
"So, they are going to soak in the experience, which will hopefully drive them to try and make a run for a medal. Getting an Olympic medal transcends tennis and it’s really cool. We’re excited about it."
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