It once made for a fun parlor game, handicapping American men’s tennis players and predicting who would finish the season with the highest ranking. Lately, though, Taylor Fritz has taken the fun and suspense out of the exercise. The 27-year-old Californian has broken away from the pack.
Though currently ranked No. 4—the highest ranking for an American in more than a decade—Fritz is not tennis’s most potent slugger. He is not the ATP’s best athlete. He is not the slickest mover. What is he? A consummate professional who controls what he can control—conditioning, diet, sleep, exercise—and minimizes variables. He is also fiercely ambitious about winning a major, unhappy with consolation prizes.
There are abundant rewards for all this. He will make millions in prize money and earn millions more with endorsements ranging from Hugo Boss to, incongruously, Chipotle. (Does guacamole stain high-thread-count culottes?)
His status also means invitations to lucrative exhibitions. Fritz once won over $1 million for a single weekend of matches in Saudi Arabia. Next week he is set to play in the Desert Smash exhibition.
Then it’s on to Indian Wells, where Fritz won the biggest title of his career in 2022. Before pulling out with an abdominal injury, Fritz spoke to Sports Illustrated from Acapulco. Some quick chatter, edited lightly for clarity and brevity:
Sports Illustrated: How would you answer this: My 2025 has been blank?
Taylor Fritz: It's alright. Injury-wise trying to get 100% healthy, play 100% healthy for all the big tournaments.
SI: We were just talking about how much players can legitimately change once they’re pro. How different a player do you think you are from five years ago?
TF: I think it's a pretty big difference. I think style-wise, it hasn't changed too much. But I just think I’m doing everything a little bit better, with a little bit more confidence. I think mentally, I’m much, much stronger.
SI: What's the biggest difference between an exhibition and a sanctioned tournament?
TF: There’s just a lot more stress [in a conventional tournament]. [In an exo] it’s none of that. Yeah. I’d say mental fatigue that you put on yourself when you're playing tournaments and you’re in tournaments. As opposed to you’re going to have fun and you're going to entertain. There's no stress.
JW: I don't want to go clickbait here, but you have smart and thoughtful and reasoned things to say. Where are you on this week's controversies? First the doubles—
TF: I think [doubles players] have a right to be upset, be angry. I think that’s the first thing I thought when I saw the mixed doubles thing. It’s like, O.K., now they’re finally going to put a lot of prize money into it. But doubles players aren’t going to get the opportunity to play. So, I get their side of it. But I think you also have to look at the side of the tournaments, a business side of things. We’ll get the proof, I guess, at the U.S. Open. If the turnout for the mixed doubles event with the top singles players in it is much, much better and maybe in the tournament it feels like they’re profiting off of it more than [before], I don’t think you can argue with it from a business side of things. But obviously, a traditional side of things, like I get, what the doubles players [are saying]. I get why they’re upset.
JW: I noticed your name was in the press release. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but can we infer that means you'll be playing?
TF: It is in a convenient time, and I enjoy playing, so I am going to be planning on playing it.
JW: Uh, no gotcha here, but … do you want to weigh in on [Jannik] Sinner?
TF: Not really, to be honest, because I'm not, I'm not even 100% sure—there’s too many variables for me to actually come up with a genuine, meaningful opinion that I think matters at all on the topic.
JW: Two Americas now in the top 10. But there’s this cluster of five or so guys in the top 25. The easy fallback is that everyone’s motivating everyone else, and it's healthy rivalries. Is that true?
TF: That’s the truth. Those guys are some of my closest friends. But, at the same time, we all want to be better than each other. And I think, there’s the belief that if one person does it, then like the others can because we’ve kind of pushed each other throughout the years.
JW: Did you see [Fernando] Verdasco retired? And Venus [Williams] might have an Indian Wells wild card. Do you see yourself doing this for 10 or 15 more years?
TG: That’d be huge. I don’t know how likely that is, but, yeah, I'll do this as long as I can, long as I feel like I'm good.
JW: What’s your fun factor? Still like your job?
TF: You know, when I can get deep into a tournament and have a big result, that’s fun I’m having. When I was younger, my career, like, five years ago … it was a lot more work, and more things I had to do, to play well. I don’t know if that’s the best way to describe it, but I feel like I'm working harder and not having maybe as much fun, so that I can do what’s the most enjoyable thing and the most fun thing for me—which is winning and playing those big matches.
JW: The food in Acapulco versus Chipotle.
TF: Chipotle. It's not even close, to be honest.
JW: Olympic tennis in Carson in 2028. [The charmless Carson venue is the designated site for LA 2028]. Or Olympic tennis night matches at Indian Wells?
TF: Probably Indian Wells.
JW: You’re good physically?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Taylor Fritz on How He’s Pulled Away From the Pack.
