California Dreamin' with Taylor Fritz, America's top ranked tennis star
"I always thought, When you run into Nadal, or Federer, Djokovic, or Murray, youâre in trouble. Weâve just been waiting for them to move out of the way.â

IT’S 7:30 in the morning at Los Angelesâ Chateau Marmont. The hotelâs famous gothic-nouveau facade is still shaded; the sun hasnât yet risen high enough above Hollywood to brighten its alabaster balconies and broad-striped awnings. The table between the entranceâs green velvet settees has a straggler champagne glass from the night beforeâitâs the kind of place that doesnât shy away from its spirited decadence, and where, perhaps more than any other hotel in the world, stars are extolled, mythologized, and sometimes even dismantled. In the morning quietude, a matte black Tesla has silently pulled up the driveway. Taylor Fritz steps out. A lithe six-foot-five, he is Southern California-handsomeâlongish hair, big smile, tanned skinâand he looks very much like someone who could be famous. That is to say: he fits the scene.
Setting notwithstanding, his starry vibe can be attributed, first and foremost, to his damn good tennis game. Twenty-five-year-old Fritz is currently ranked ninth on the ATP Tour (global menâs tennisâ preeminent governing body), though his all-time best position is fifth, which he achieved this past February. For U.S.-born players, he is the highest ranked at presentâa leading position amongst a stacked field of ascendant talents and ATP standings, with names including Frances Tiafoe (10), Tommy Paul (14), Christopher Eubanks (30) and Sebastian Korda (33) not far behind. What propelled Fritz to this threshold is a naturally athletic yet acutely developed baseline skillset, which he uses to generate deep, fast groundstrokes, a lethal serve (which he says is his best shot, generally, without giving away his âvery specificâ fortes), and a hell of a lot of court coverage thanks to his height.

Fritzâs biggest triumph to date was the stuff of narrativeâeven borderline cinematicâdreams: In March, 2022, he won the 1000-level BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wellsâarguably the highest-profile event outside of the Grand Slamsâin the California desert, just about 100 miles from the town of Rancho Santa Fe, where he grew up. For all intents and purposes, the summit is his hometown tourney. And, to take it, he needed to beat the formidable Rafael Nadal in the finals. Fighting through an ankle injury, Fritz ended Nadalâs then 20-match winning streak over a close two sets beneath the expansive highlands sky and an electrified Californian crowd, roaring as their golden boy hit thudding groundstroke after groundstroke, drilling the Spaniard downâand reaching new heights in doing so.
âThat day is my best tennis memory,â says Fritz while sitting poolside at the Chateau as the morning sun, now climbing, cleaves the languid palms and heats the spaceâs baked red bricks. He pauses and kind of gives a half-shoulder shrug: âAnd, I mean, it might always be. I always thought, When you run into Nadal, or [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, or [Andy] Murray, youâre in trouble. Weâve just been waiting for them to move out of the way.â
He smiles in the retrospective moment. âNow, we have this next wave coming in, and itâs motivating. âBut,â he concedes, âthereâs Alcaraz. I think Alcaraz is going to be the main person thatâs stopping us from winning Slams.â (Alcaraz, the 20-year-old Spaniard and current world number 1, already has a U.S. Open and Wimbledon under his belt.)
Fritz might have been predestined for the sporting limelight. He was brought up in an athletic family: Fritzâs mother, Kathy May, was a professional tennis player who reached the number 10 spot in the world in 1977. His father, Guy, also competed professionally. Fritzâs first rackets recollection was âplaying mini-tennis with my Dadâs college friends. He always had players at our house, on our court. I was too little to do anything except stand really close to the net.â
Heâd play in high school (winning a California Interscholastic Federation championship along the way), and would grind his way to eventually becoming the best junior menâs player in the world. In 2015 at the age of 17, Fritz won the junior U.S. Open. He entered the ATP Tour later that year.
To date, Fritz has 6 ATP singles titles to his name, accruing two this year in Atlanta and Delray Beach. In addition to these and Indian Wells, heâs clinched victories in Tokyo (just days after recovering from COVID, during which he was quarantined in Seoulââit was super bad,â he says) and in Englandâs Eastbourne, twice.

Over the 2023 season, Fritz has had ups and downs. He won the aforementioned Delray Beach Open in February, beating the Serbian player Miomir Kecmanovic in three sets. With his Atlanta win in July, he took down Australiaâs Aleksandar Vukic. At the United Cup, a new mixed-gender team tournament with representatives from 18 countries, Fritz helped the U.S. secure first place by beating the Italian Matteo Berrettini in January.

Yet at this yearâs Slams, his results havenât been as strong. He reached the third round at the French, but saw early exits in the second rounds at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. (His best ever Slam result was the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2022.) Going into the U.S. Open, heâs reflecting on the past few monthâs ebbs and flows.
âItâs a long year,â he says. âItâs not always easy to be tuned into the correct mindset. Iâm just trying my best to show up every day, and set myself up for the big weeks. Last year, I had some big results, but this year, Iâve gone deeper consistently, even if I havenât won as many.â
With the depth of the field, though, thereâs nothing theoretically stopping Fritz from beating anybody in contention. When heâs on and playing at his maximum level, Fritz says the key is âalways knowing exactly what shot to hit.â
In this respectâin the fractions of seconds during which players must choose what to doâFritzâs capabilities shine when thereâs full conviction. Some players say they do best when theyâre almost not thinking about the pointâwhen they can remove the stakes and the pressure and just slip into the physicality of it. Thatâs not so for Fritz. âMy best results are when thereâs no indecision.â

Another notable thing about the Californian is that heâs not afraid to ruffle a few feathersâand to voice his opinion along the way. In moments of frustration, he can be seen talking to himself, scolding himself, or rolling his eyes at his playerâs box. He can sulk, but he doesnât smash or throw his racket, as some are wont to do.
At the 2023 French Openâthe Slam also known as Roland-GarrosâFritz was playing and beating the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the second round. Unhappy with one of their own losing, the crowd rained down boos and jeers on Fritz. After Rinderknechâs final shot sailed long, the boos peaked, and Fritz held his finger to his mouth to shush the stands. It was intense (crowds often pick sides, but this felt harsherâeven after Fritz won and was giving his on-court interview, the audience still disapproved.) That kind of interaction would rattle many players. Later, he tweeted a sole emoji of the shushing face. But, he saw that feedback from the pseudo-incident was mostly supportive.
âI couldnât believe how well received what I did was, afterwards,â says Fritz. âIt was a majority positive reaction. Iâm calm, usually, so if I am going to do something like that, you really have to push me. The booing motivated me to win the match. But if I am going to get shit for hours straight, I thought I was totally within my boundaries to do that after the match.â

Fritz, like many public figures, has found that social media, namely X, formerly known as Twitter, can be polarizing. Heâs OK with posting a âtennis opinion,â such as, for example, a statement on a controversial hindrance call made against Novak Djokovic when the Serbian was playing the Italian Jannik Sinner at this yearâs Wimbledon. âI tweeted my opinion about hindrance⊠because [it] probably needs to be called more. Iâve been telling umpires they need to call it more.â (Fritz clarified in the post that he was not speaking about Djokovic specifically, more so âsome players.â)
âWhen I tweet an opinion, it always gets way more numbers than any other post,â he continues. âI think expressing opinion is good for tennis.â Heâs not wrong on that front: Status quo isnât going to attract and retain new eyes, nor will it necessarily satiate long term fans. While Fritz doesnât have the pyrotechnic temper of a Nick Kyrgios (a player known for headline-making antics) nor the political friction of a Djokovic (who, for a time, was banned from certain competitions because he chose not to receive vaccination for COVID-19), heâs proven heâs not one to fly quietly under the disposition radar.
âWhen I tweet an opinion, it always gets way more numbers than any other post. I think expressing opinion is good for tennis.â
Speaking of that: Fritz has also taken on something of an expanded celebrity appeal of late. He, along with his girlfriend Morgan Riddle, has become a fan favorite on Netflixâs hit show Break Point.
The slick streaming docu-series is from the same producers as the Formula 1-centric Drive to Survive, which many credit with catapulting that sport to new heights amongst American audiences. While Break Point doesnât have quite the pull and insular drama of Drive to Surviveâand while tennis had substantial U.S. popularity that predated the showâit has increased viewership with those that may only have a passing interest in the sport.
âThereâs a difference,â says Fritz of the showâs effect on his public persona. âItâs not all the time, but Iâve been out and someone has recognised me, and Iâll tell my friends, âthis normally doesnât happen.ââ
Netflix has invested significantly in the vehicle; production crews follow the pros, both women and men, across the globe and into the highs, heartbreaks and granular hollows of touring life (gym sessions, cool downs, boring hotel room service meals, endless flights). The series has been renewed for a second season, with filming nearing completion.
Being a breakout personality from season one, Fritz is rumoured to be appearing in season two, tooâand he recognises that the show functions in such a way that it glossily attracts those outside of tennisâ core fandom. Moths to a pop-culture tennis flame, if you will. âThey have to put pieces together to make an entertaining story,â he says.
Away from the floodlights, grandstands and cameras, Fritz resides between Los Angeles and Miami. He tries to spend more time in the former, where his 6-year-old son Jordan lives.
On fatherhood, Fritz says: âI love it. It has been amazing to see him grow up. Weâre getting to a fun age, where he can communicate really well and itâs just⊠itâs rewarding. I would love if he could come on the road with me at some point, but thatâs not the situation right now. He doesnât watch a lot of TV, but what he does watch is sports. I think heâs very interested in getting into tennis, but I would never push him into it. Heâs similar to me in that he just wants to play sportsâno matter which one.â Fritz adds then, if he hadnât become a pro tennis player, heâd want to be âan athlete of any kind. Probably baseball, followed by basketball, followed by lacrosse.â
Another pastimeâone that helps him unwind, but also to sharpen his vying natureâis video games. Fritz decompresses on tour by âplaying for 30 minutes, maybe an hour, before going to sleep. And I sleep really well,â then adding he appreciates the âcompetitive aspectâ of gaming. Additionally, heâs found that the hobby has a gratifying networking element.

âIt is a cool way to connect with people. I throw up a link on Twitter or Instagram, and itâs nice because [with people coming in from those audiences] I get to interact with fans.â Donât, however, expect a YouTube channel or regular Twitch appearances: âIâve occasionally streamed on Twitch. But, it would be impossible to have a consistent schedule with everything that goes on in tennis. Recording everything, chopping it up, editing. Thatâs too much.â
With that, Fritz slides into some fresh fits to pose for photos. Heâs pretty easygoing in front of the lensâperhaps as a byproduct of his Netflix confessionals. The Chateauâs bare-bones 1930âs swimming area makes for a picturesque backdropâin fact, the following day, the model Daria Werbowy would pose on the exact same bricks for Gucciâs first campaign under its new creative director, Sabato De Sarno.
Fritz settles into a wicker chair, framed by an aqua-blue and white-striped picket fence, easy-mannered in the daybreak. The poses are natural. The shoot is quick. Itâs as clear as the now cloudless morning: Fritz is a tennis elite, with plenty of star power, too.
This story originally appeared on Esquire US
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