INDIAN WELLS – Four years ago, Taylor Fritz won some important matches, but he also lost quite a few. Now, the American is ranked No. 5, and last year he won this ATP 1000 tournament.
When he was younger, he had been going up and down. Now he is smarter and more thoughtful, and as he said, he finally found a mental approach to play more consistently.
“I think for me what made me a really good player and gave me a lot of success early on when I was 17 or 18 was how aggressive I was and how big I was hitting the ball. I could do that because I was free,” he said. “I’m not supposed to beat these guys, I’m the younger guy. Then all of a sudden I remember thinking this, I had some good wins when I was 18. One year later when I was 19, I barely beat a guy that I was supposed to beat. I thought to myself, wow, if I had this win one year ago, it would have been the best one of my whole life. We’re only a year now in the future and I’m supposed to win that. It’s bad if I don’t win that match. So I just feel like there was a lot of pressure on me, and it just tightened me up. I wasn’t playing my game as much as I guess should have. I got away from playing what made me good.”
Some young players with potential don’t go through usual teenage paths like going to high school and college and have restricted perception. On the court and off, the players gain more time to understand why they are playing tennis and deal with extensive traveling. It could be odd, or upsetting.
“Some deal with it better than others. At the age of 17, 18, 19, maybe you’re not the most well-equipped to deal with that stuff. Now it’s different, I’m older and the pressure I feel is just the pressure that I put on myself,” Fritz said. “I don’t care about what other people are saying and what pressure other people may be putting on me to succeed. That’s kind of just a lesson you need to learn.”
The 25-year-old has won five tournaments. Is that enough considering his age and potential? At least he has beaten a number of excellent players in the past year, such as Rafa Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev.
Fritz’s forehand and his backhand have grown more solid, and his return has been much better. He is coming together.
“I think one of the biggest improvements in my game from two years ago is the return. Before I would only stand up and stand in the same position and try to return,” he said. “I have made some tweaks to where I stand. I can mix up where I stand, as well. I definitely put way more returns in the court than I used to, for sure.”