Fritz likes the video — and his place in Indian Wells semis
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — This is how it is in tennis these days. Taylor Fritz has reached the Indian Wells semifinals and ranks first among American male players, but he’s still a distant second in popularity to the controversial video posted by his girlfriend.
Don’t you just love it? Fritz does, but others involved in his sport (the old boys) do not.
The hot news (in 87-degree weather, seemingly everything’s hot): Fritz, the 24-year-old from over the hill in San Diego, defeated his own nightmares (three double faults back-to-back-to-back in the second set) and Mimi Kecmanovic of Serbia, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1.
So, for a second straight BNP Paribas tournament (the last one, a mere five months ago, was a drop-in due to COVID-19), Fritz is in the final four.
In one semi on Saturday, he’ll face Andrey Rublev, who defeated Grigor Dimitrov, 7-5. 6-2. In the other, a couple of Spaniards, young Carlos Alcaraz and not-so-young Rafael Nadal, face each other.
So you say tennis is nothing but hitting balls across a net (as compared to golf, hitting balls in a pasture)? That’s where Fritz’s gal, Morgan Riddle, enters the scene — or more accurately, her TikTok video enters the screen.
It shows life on the tour, and it’s registered something like 3.7 million views. It’s aimed at non-tennis people, with explanations of the game’s scoring system (of course some quips about “love”) and a bit of self-indulgence. It mentions the importance of the Grand Slams; Fritz did make the fourth round of the Australian.
“I know tennis is relatively uncool and unknown in America,” Riddle said of the reason for the project. That in the video Riddle says she gets to have “champagne and strawberries and cream” at Wimbledon, as well as “getting to wear really cute outfits,” irritated some critics.
At Indian Wells earlier in the week, Fritz said he believes the video is good for the sport. “I think what she did was awesome for our sport," he said. “It got a ton of people looking at it.
"I’m the one that’s a professional tennis player, I’m the one that does this for a living. I 100 percent agree with everything in that video.”
The win over Kecmanovic was no less agreeable, even with all those uncharacteristic double faults.
“I have no idea what that was,” said Fritz. “I've never done that in my life. Like, I actually have no idea. I literally forgot how to play.
“I really could have easily let that bother me a lot, let it affect me in the third set. I kind of just tried to laugh it off and forget about it. Kind of embarrassing. I think a lot of people saw that.”
Like everyone spread about 16,000-seat Stadium One, and those watching live on Tennis Channel.
“Yeah, I just regrouped in the third. I just told myself it was a fluke, that's not going to happen again. Told myself I had lots of chances to break serve in the second set. He only had the one where I literally forgot how to play tennis. I told myself to regroup, do the same thing.
“I did in the second set, take care of my serve, win those break points. That's what I did.”
It worked, obviously, and quickly enough there was Fritz, like an actor at curtain call, his arms out, thanking the cheering fans.
“I have a lot of family here,” said Fritz. “I played Easter Bowl here when I was a kid. A lot of history. My dad is the coach at College of the Desert here. I'd come here when I was a kid for the tournament.
“Just a place I'm really familiar with it. It feels like a second home, really.”
No controversial videos, just acceptance.