By winning the prestigious Indian Wells tournament in the Coachella Valley, Taylor Fritz became the first American to lift the trophy in the Californian desert since Andre Agassi in 2001. In the semi-finals, he broke the series of thirteen successes consecutive Andrey Rublev (7-5, 6-4) and in the final inflicted on Rafael Nadal his first defeat of the year 2022 (6-3, 7-6).
After this feat, the 24-year-old player, 1.96 meters tall, jumped into the top 10 (8th) and became the undisputed number one American ahead of Reilly Opelka (24, 18th).
Indian Wells, "the house", of this child of the ball
He grew up in Rancho Santa Fe. A town in San Diego, located in southern California, two hours by road from Indian Wells.
While his record so far was limited to one title, an ATP 250 conquered on the grass of Eastbourne at the beginning of the summer of 2019, the local of the stage has particularly distinguished himself under the Californian sun over the past six months. .
Semi-finalist of this same tournament last October, he had knocked down Matteo Berrettini, Jannick Sinner and Alexander Zverev, and then signed;
his best performance in a Masters 1000. He did even better this week in “his tournament”.
As a kid, he was going to attend the tournament with his father.
"
It's my second home.
I have lots of family here.
I played a lot of tournaments in Southern California when I was younger and my dad coaches College of Desert
."
Like most champions of his age, the American fell into the tennis pot when he was little.
Guy, her dad, is a former professional and was her first coach, then in 2016 was named head of US Olympic development.
His mother, Kathy May is a former Top 10 member, won seven WTA titles and reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals, including two at Roland-Garros in 1977 and 1978.
Taylor Fritz has come a long way…
If he dominated a very diminished Nadal, Taylor Fritz himself was not at his best before starting the final.
Touched in the ankle on Saturday evening during his victorious semi-final against Andrey Rublev, the American almost, according to him, threw in the towel after training before the final: "
I can't even describe how incredible it is to have been able to play the way I played today because I felt the worst pain of my career this morning
.
On a few changes of direction, I screamed.
The pain was excruciating
.
His staff, including the famous Paul Annacone, one of the three coaches, even dissuaded him from playing the final.
Fritz tried his luck anyway.
He did well.
He knew how to overcome the pain.
Armed with his big forehand, Taylor Fritz knew how to make the difference to bring down the legend Nadal.
Read alsoTennis: "I thought I was going to have to forfeit", says Fritz, winner of Nadal in the Indian Wells final
Read alsoTennis: Taylor Fritz enters the Top 10 after his victory in Indian Wells
His first victory against a member of the Big Three
Faced with a physically diminished Nadal, the American was able to keep control of his nerves and his emotions to afford a first.
He had never before beaten one of the three living legends of the circuit (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer).
Fritz had faced Novak Djokovic five times, Roger Federer twice and Rafael Nadal once.
Balance sheet?
Eight matches, eight defeats.
“
I lost those matches against the big players so much… I felt like they were unbeatable, it was way too high for me
".
He erases a bitter memory.
At the Australian Open in 2021, he lost in five sets to Djokovic in the third round at Rod Laver Arena.
A meeting where the Serb had yet played with an abdominal tear…
A Grand Slam glass ceiling to shatter
The winner of Indian Wells remains on an Australian Open round of 16 in January where he lost after fighting a big battle against world number 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas ( 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4).
Previously, he had stumbled seven times in the third round of a Major... With his new status as the 8th player in the world, he can hope to aim further this year.
It may not be at Roland-Garros where he has never done better than a third round (2020) in five appearances.
Taylor is now in a relationship with a TikTok star
In 2016, at the age of 18, he married Raquel Pedraza with whom he had a child (Jordan) and with whom he divorced in December 2091 after three years of life marital.
The American today spins the perfect love with Morgan Riddle is a very popular Instagram and Tiktok model, of Polish origin and 24 years old.
She is “famous” for making 3.7 million views with this TikTok video where she explains what life on the circuit is like.