Taylor Fritz served a beating with an extra side of drama as he took down
Arthur Rinderknech at
Wimbledon. But it was more the post match chatter between the pair that caused the drama as the American coldly told him to enjoy his flight home.
Fritz served up an extra slice to Rinderknech when he responded saying he was still in doubles quipping good for you. It all stems from the 2023 French Open when Fritz won their match despite hostile spectators and he thanked the crowd in sarcastic fashion. “I love you guys. 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," he said.
Rinderknech used his pre match to stoke the fire and it didn't work for him. Fritz said that as a result the match was basically done before it began and that it gave him the motivation he needed.
“I normally I don’t [get riled by comments], but it’s tough not to when, obviously, someone kind of, I guess, goes out of their way to take a jab at you. It’s tough not to see it because everyone is just going to, like, tag me and make sure I see it,” said Fritz. "As soon as I saw it, the match was basically over.”
“It just gives me extra fire, obviously. I’m a very chill person. I, like, don’t do anything that could rub people the wrong way, so when someone kind of just goes out of their way to take a shot at me, then I’m not just going to take it. It gave me the extra fire to win. When we shook hands, I just said, ‘Have a nice flight home’.
“He asked me what I said. I told him what I said. He told me he was in doubles still. I said, Oh, congrats, good for you. Then he started acting like, Why are you blah, blah, blah?
“I’m like, ‘Dude, you know what you said’. You know what you said. Don’t disrespect me before the match and then expect me to be all nice after the match. That’s not how it works.”