Should He Stay or Should He Go?
As his hard court season ends, Taylor Fritz stands at a crossroads between pushing onward and pulling back.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — I realize that I’ve, without intending to, done a lot of stories in quick succession here at Bounces that focus disproportionately on American men. But I thought it made sense to do one last quick one as a top player finds himself at a sudden inflection point that represents the dilemmas many players constantly face about whether to push onward or pull back from the tour.
Sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz, who was the highest-ranked man left in the top half of the Miami Open men’s singles draw after the exit of Carlos Alcaraz, lost on Tuesday afternoon to his frequent nemesis Jiri Lehecka, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2.
This ends the spring hard court swing for Fritz, who has been playing through various injuries throughout the year, particularly persistent knee tendinitis. “It could be worse; it could be better,” Fritz said of his knee as he spoke in the mixed zone on Tuesday.
Fritz has been openly and transparently weighing these issues all year: after his loss in Melbourne—during which he was also struggling with an oblique injury, he said his physio had advised him that “there's a pretty solid chance that we can do all the rehab protocol and do everything we need to do while I'm still playing…he thinks that it's plausible to get it better while playing. So we said let's try that and see how it goes.”
But when he was asked about playing the quadragenarian Stan Wawrinka in Melbourne, Fritz sounded a less optimistic note.
Q. What do you think you’ll be doing at 40?
TAYLOR FRITZ: I’m not going to be playing tennis. Like, there’s no way. With how my body has been feeling the last couple of years, there’s no way I’m going to be able to hold on for another 12 years.
Fritz has been open about his reluctance to step off the tour while he feels that he can still play, pulled in by the powerful centripetal forces that keep so many players going on the tour: competitiveness, hope, and money.
He’s played a full slate in recent months, including ATP 500 Dallas, ATP 250 Delray Beach, and ATP-WTA 1000 Indian Wells and Miami.
Fritz has had his best results on hard courts and grass courts in his career, so the upcoming overseas clay court swing might seem like the most logical part of the season for him to abjure in the name of much-needed rest and recuperation.
But Fritz is currently entered in both ATP 1000 Monte Carlo as well as in the April ATP 500 Munich event, an addition to his schedule that would’ve almost certainly been facilitated by a hefty appearance fee.
On Tuesday in Miami, Fritz initially said he was unsure what his plans for the clay would be, and that he would talk to his team (whom you will also hear from below).
When I asked about how he’d weigh his decision, Fritz expounded in typical fashion:
To read the rest, including full remarks from Fritz and his coach Michael Russell, please subscribe to Bounces! -Ben
