Wimbledon star makes bitter remark to rival as handshake turns ugly at the net
Taylor Fritz was involved in a controversial spat after his latest win at Wimbledon.
Wimbledon hopeful Taylor Fritz brutally told French opponent Arthur Rinderknech to “have a nice flight home” as their clash turned ugly. The American, seeded 13th for the tournament, went through 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4, but the post-match talk was dominated by the pair having a spat at the net as they shook hands.
On the eve of the clash, Rinderknech had fuelled the fire by dragging up the 2023 French Open contest between the pair.
On a volatile afternoon at Roland Garros, Fritz was booed and jeered as he knocked out the Frenchman, and celebrated his win by putting a finger to his lips and goading the crowd.
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And on Wednesday, Rinderknech told French media outlet L'Equipe that Fritz had "whined" in Paris and "won't cry as much" in London. Fritz clearly noted the remarks, with the pair embroiled in a heated exchange before leaving the court.
In his post-match press conference, the 26-year-old admitted he started the altercation after learning of his rival’s jibe. “As soon as I saw it, the match was basically over,” he said.
“I’m a very chill person. I don't do anything that could rub people the wrong way, so when someone kind of just goes out of their way to take a shot at me, then I'm not just going to take it. It gave me the extra fire to win. When we shook hands, I just said have a nice flight home.”
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Rinderknech, 28, isn’t heading for the airport just yet. He’s due to play in the men’s doubles later this afternoon with Portuguese partner Nuno Borges against the British duo of Charles Broom and Arthur Fery, a factor he seemingly pointed out.
“He asked me what I said,” Fritz continued. “I told him what I said. He told me he was in doubles still. I said, ‘Oh congrats, good for you’. Then he started acting like ‘Why are you blah, blah, blah?’
“I’m like, ‘Dude, you know what you said. You know what you said’. Don't disrespect me before the match and then expect me to be all nice after the match. That's not how it works.”
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Fritz now faces 24th seed Alejandro Tabilo, frim Chile for a place in the fourth round. That clash is due to take place on Saturday.
Fritz reached the quarter-final stage at SW19 in 2022, before blowing a two-set lead against Rafael Nadal. To compound his frustration, the Spaniard duly withdrew from the tournament ahead of the semi-finals, handing Nick Kyrgios a walkover into the final.
