Taylor Fritz explains why he was left ‘frustrated’ despite winning his Shanghai Masters match, ‘it is just miserable’

Taylor Fritz is one of tennis’ most analytical and well-spoken individuals, and the way he views the sport is unlike any other on tour.

His interest and passion for the tactical side of the game, and his eagerness to speak about it, at times provides fans with an insight they have never seen before.

However, whilst Taylor Fritz might be regarded as a tennis purist, he is not afraid to lambast the sport when he feels it might be doing something wrong, or if it has made a mistake.

Fritz has complained about tennis balls at length this year.

And now, having played and won his Shanghai Masters opener earlier today, they are once again the subject of his aversion.

Speaking whilst still on court, Fritz began with an assessment of his performance, scoring an impressive straight-sets win over Matteo Arnaldi to kickstart his campaign in China.

He admitted: “I mean, I just tried to get on the offensive as quickly as possible in a lot of the rallies.

“You know, sometimes I got in trouble a bit when he hit a good, uh, deeper turn, and then I had to lift and he’d kind of start dictating the point. But other than that, I did a good job of kind of just getting to neutral and attacking and trying to be the one dictating, and especially when we were on the newer side of a ball change, I felt like it was really good for me.”

The interviewer, who was sitting courtside, admitted to having heard Fritz complain about being ‘frustrated’ during the match.

Asked to expand on what was irking him, he admitted: “Just once the balls get worn out, I can hit the ball in one line as hard as I can, then the other line as hard as I can, and then he just passes me and gets a full hit on it.

“It’s just, like… I mean, thank God they spent the courts up this year. Like, it’s faster, so at least it still kind of goes, but, I mean, these balls just, they’re so fast brand new, and then they wear out so fast, and once they get worn out, God, it is just miserable to try to finish a point. Like, so tough.”

This win represented the 28-year-old’s first on the ATP Tour since the US Open, having lost in the very first round of the Japan Open late last week.

However, despite that, Fritz remains confident in his tennis, adding: “I mean, I felt good about my tennis the whole time. I think Tokyo was just really tough circumstances for me.

“I went to the Laver Cup pretty early, and then it rained the first two days I was in Tokyo, so I hadn’t seen the sun in, like, I think 12 days. And then I came out, first match, the sun was like, so strong, and it was just a brutally hot day.

“It really just, like, blitzed me, because I hadn’t had any kind of heat acclimation, so, yeah, I felt like my tennis was good, but just tough circumstances.”

Fritz’s record at the Shanghai Masters has been far from sparkling across his career, but in 2024, he enjoyed a breakthrough.

There, after his previous best-ever finish had been a sole run to the third round, the American surged into the semi-finals.

He enjoyed a near-faultless run until he was eventually beaten by Novak Djokovic, having not dropped a single set.

Fritz beat Terence Atmane, Yosuke Watanuki, Holger Rune and David Goffin.