He’s a rebel! The American tennis player fought a duel against the home team and the fans

Playing at the French Open against the last home player in the tournament is not exactly honey. American Taylor Fritz has done a very good job. After the match, it is clear that his name will be well remembered by French fans. But for most of them, it probably won’t be a pleasant memory.

From the perspective of the home fans, this is not an ideal French Open. In the men’s rankings, Gael Monfils impressed them first. After a five-set battle on Tuesday, he was due to face a duel against Holger Rune, one of the big favourites for the event.

However, Monfils withdrew due to wrist problems and the eyes and hopes of many were fixed on the name of Aarthur Rinderknecht.

Twenty-seven-year-old Rinderknecht was definitely not a big favourite here. He had never made it past the second round until Roland Garros 2023.

This year, he went 3:1 sets to veteran Richard Gasquet in the opener and the home fans definitely wanted to push him through a second duel at the Paris Grand Slam.

A tough match for the American

Taylor Fritz is no rookie. He is seeded number nine at the French Open. He also played in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

Yet he was in a very difficult position in his match against Rinderknecht. Before he knew it, he lost the first set 2-6. In addition, every first serve he failed was accompanied by applause from the local fans.

Fritz fought back. At the very end, he took the second set when he took his serve from the home player. He repeated a similar feat at the beginning of the third set and steered the match to victory.

The American won after sets 2::6, 6::4, 6::3, 6::4 and the uneasy duel with the crowd thus turned out positively for him.

He celebrated the victory with a finger in front of his lips gesture to the home fans. He earned a roar from the crowd, which did not stop for a long time.

The traditional post-match interview with him took place in difficult conditions, but the San Diego native made it through, just like the whole game.

“The crowd cheered me on today, I really wanted to win for them,” the American said in his post-match interview.

It’s clear that after this match he gained attention for the rest of his time at the French Open. Matches with top quality opponents are looming on his schedule.

Fritz’s next program

In Saturday’s match, the American tennis player will face a seeded player for the first time at this year’s French Open. It will be the Argentine Cerundolo. He is playing in very good form and Fritz will not have an easy time advancing to the eighth round.

In the next stage, he would probably face Denmark’s Holger Rune. Nothing to do but look forward to the next Grand Slam matches and the stories they will undoubtedly bring.

Source: Roland Garros, Tennis Majors