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"

Wednesday, 05 February 2025 at 04:30

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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Arthur Ajayi

Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.

As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.

With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.

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