Taylor Fritz expressed his irritation at climate protestors who interrupted his second-round match against Andy Murray at the DC Open, although he says he understands their reasons.
World No. 9 Fritz took on former world No. 1 Murray in the second round of the ATP 500 event earlier this week. It was a dramatic match that lasted around three hours, but ultimately Fritz prevailed 6-7,(2), 6-3, 6-4.
The top-seeded player went on to win his quarter-final match against Jordan Thompson, before being defeated in the semi-final by twelfth seed Tallon Griekspoor.
The American's thrilling match against Murray was briefly interrupted by environmental activists from the group Just Stop Oil. Several protestors threw giant tennis balls decorated with pictures of flames onto the court before being escorted from the stands.
This is not the first time that Just Stop Oil have interrupted tennis events. Perhaps most notably, activists caused disruption at Wimbledon by throwing orange paper petals and jigsaw pieces onto court 18, leading three people to be charged with aggravated trespass.
Speaking in the press conference after his match in Washington, Fritz expressed his annoyance at the protestors, suggesting that although he understood the reasons behind the activism, he didn't see why their fight had to involve 'annoying' everyone else.
"My thoughts on it in general are, like, I get they're protesting, but, like, there's just got to be a better way to do it. Who's going to -- like, I don't understand how people are going to get behind a cause when you're ruining everyone else's good time. Like, it doesn't really make sense to me," he said.
The 25-year-old went on to explain a 'joke' he made about the protests making him want to fly on more planes.
"I said, as a joke, Oh, wow -- because it's annoying obviously when they do it. It's ruining everyone's time. Everyone wants to watch the tennis.
"So I jokingly said, 'Honestly, this makes me want to go fly on jets more'. I think, you know, they're supporting a good cause, but the way they're doing it, like, who's going to want to listen when they're just annoying everybody," he added.
Taylor Fritz on that climate change protest during his match vs Murray: "I jokingly said, 'Honestly, this makes me want to go fly on jets more.' They're supporting a good cause, but the way they're doing it, who's going to want to listen when they're just annoying everybody?"
