Taylor Fritz stole the show on Thursday at the 2023 Roland Garros after he eliminated Arthur Rinderknech.
But it wasn't about beating the Frenchman but all about the atmosphere. The French crowd tried to help their player and the American didn't appreciate that. After the match, he attempted to silence the crowd, but the opposite happened.
The Parisian crowd started booing Fritz, but it wasn't regular boos. The French crowd started booing and seemingly never stopped. They booed even when Marion Bartoli attempted to do an interview and made it impossible for it to be held.
It took some time before the highest-ranked American on the ATP Tour was allowed to speak and once he got the chance, he didn't waste it and made sure to address the crowd in a way that he deemed appropriate in the given moment.
"The crowd was just so great that I had to let it fire me up. They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks guys."
After the match, Fritz also wanted to clarify some things as some fans thought that the interview was so short because of his decision to leave it due to the crowd's boos. However, as the American disclosed, Bartoli told him ahead that she will ask only one question.
"Nah she said she was only asking 1 question before we started and I stayed and signed for all the kids on the way out."
Fritz also emphasized that despite the crowd's booing, he took his time to sign autographs for all the kids waiting for him and stayed on the court despite the hostile atmosphere. But even though he seemed to be unbothered by what happened, it will be interesting how the tournament unfolds and how the crowd reacts in the next match of the eighth seed.
To many, his story looks very similar to what happened to Daniil Medvedev at the 2019 US Open. He clashed with the crowd multiple times, but eventually, the Russian managed to get them on his side and almost completed one of the craziest stories, but eventually, he lost to Rafael Nadal in five sets in the final.
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