Taylor Fritz admits to not giving 100% in a match in order to avoid winning 6-0 - "I wouldn't say I fully tanked it"
ATP
Although most tennis players would be pleased with a 6-0 score in their favor during a match, Taylor Fritz revealed he is not a fan of that particular outcome and admitted to not giving his best so as to avoid the bagel in his favor.
Fritz kicked off the 2025 ATP season by winning the United Cup multinational mixed event, as he teamed with WTA star Coco Gauff and their compatriots to defeat Poland in the final. However, the American had a disappointing performance at the Australian Open, falling in the third round to Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Winning a set 6-0 could backfire, says Fritz
The World No.4 defeated Chilean Christian Garin 6-2 6-1 6-0 in the second round at the Melbourne Slam. In an interview with girlfriend Morgan Riddle on her YouTube channel, Fritz spoke about how he disliked winning sets 6-0.
"If you win a set 6-0 over someone you’re not supposed to really 6-0, which is most people considering like professional tennis, you’re hurting your chances at the next set for sure," began Fritz. "Because, okay the person like loosens up like a lot, because they’re like ‘I just got beaten 6-0, I can’t possibly get worse than this’. And then you get tight, you tighten up a little bit because you’re like ‘I just won 6-0 I can’t possibly get better than this’.
“But, if you beat someone like 6-2 and maybe they win those two games at the end of the set, they’ll like think what they’re doing is working. They’ll be like, ‘Okay, maybe it’s not that bad’, and then they’ll go and do the same thing the next set…Yes, it’s fully psychological."
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Following his statement, Riddle asked if Fritz intentionally lost a game when up 5-0 in the second set against Garin, in order to avoid winning 6-0.
“I wouldn’t say I fully tanked it, but I didn’t give my best effort," replied the 27-year old.
Fritz is set to compete at the ongoing Dallas Open, with an eye on the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and Miami to follow.
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mandoist04-02-2025 - It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
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- Well said.mandoist03-02-2025
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