"I would like to see more openness for players to be crazier" - Fritz in support of Kyrgios-like antics on tour

Taylor Fritz has claimed that the tennis tours need to be more accepting of “crazier attitudes” seen by the likes of Nick Kyrgios in an attempt to engage younger fans of the sport.

Fritz is one of the players involved in Netflix’s new Drive to Survive-style tennis documentary, while his girlfriend Morgan Riddle has been using TikTok to show the tennis tour in a new light in an attempt to draw more young fans to the sport. And the World No.14 has now suggested that the likes of Kyrgios should be given the opportunity to act even “crazier” and bring entertainment to the game and win over more viewers.

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“I think appealing to younger generation and making tennis kind of more fun and exciting is like probably the most important thing we need to do as a sport and it's always been one of my kind of personal dreams to see tennis become more popular among younger kids,” said Fritz after his five-set first round win against Santiago Rodriguez Taverna at Roland Garros.

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Suggesting one thing that would benefit the sport, he added: “And I think, I would say just for, like one thing we can do on tour is be more accepting of kind of like crazier attitudes and like stuff like that going on.

“I feel like any little thing can kind of get someone fined or get someone in trouble, so I maybe would like to see more kind of just openness for players to be crazier.”

Players like Kyrgios have previously found themselves under fire for using shots like underarm serves, while the Aussie has also been on the receiving end of fines and suspensions for some of his bigger outbursts. But Fritz believes that the “drama” was fine within reason, and could bring a new audience to tennis.

“I think that that's just kind of what the younger generation like responds well to is like all the drama and the craziness and so I think maybe letting players get away with a bit more would be a bit exciting,” he added.