“Before people get p****d this was just a joke”- Taylor Fritz downplays chances of a Sunshine Double after facing backlash from fans

Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz is having the time of his life with his incredible on-court results. Fritz had a dream run at the 2022 Indian Wells, where he became the first American to win the title in the Californian desert since Andre Agassi in 2001. And he did it in stunning fashion, by ending Rafael Nadal‘s 20-match winning streak in the summit clash.

The American’s participation itself was a doubt after he sprained his ankle in the semi-finals against Andrey Rublev, but in a remarkable turn of events, Fritz put on a gritty performance to win his first Masters 1000 title. With already a title in the bag, the 24-year-old has set his sights on the ‘Sunshine Double‘ and has made a winning start to his campaign at the Miami Open. Fritz defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in his opener to extend his winning streak to 7 matches. Following his win, the American wrote a message on the camera drawing a Sun with an ‘x2’ followed by a question mark, indicating the Sunshine Double.

Before people get pissed this was a joke I thought it was funny ??‍♂️ https://t.co/AN2HDdSZUS
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) March 26, 2022

But Fritz then quickly downplayed his title bid and said it was a joke. He took to Twitter to clarify his message and said “Before people get pissed this was a joke I thought it was funny.”

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‘It was a fluke’: Taylor Fritz face backlash from fans

What seemed like an innocuous message was met with outrage. Soon after Fritz wrote the message on camera, fans quickly wrote off his chances of winning and even said he could only win Indian Wells because Nadal was injured and even went as far as saying it was a fluke.

It was a fluke
— Faisal Al-Otaibi (@faotaibi1) March 26, 2022

I would love to but don’t think you have the luck to have such a tired and old player next time
— Tennis LegenNDs were born in May (@Serbian_Lover) March 26, 2022

I’m sorry but I’m going to boldly predict that Taylor Fritz will not win the sunshine double https://t.co/ojBVqbSJUb
— Thag Simmons (@d_h_sanders) March 26, 2022

Taylor Fritz’s road to the Sunshine Double

Fritz earned a hard-fought win in his second-round clash against Mikhail Kukushkin. The 11th seed overcame a second-set stumble to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. He will next square off against fellow American Tommy Paul, who staged an upset over 23rd seed Karen Khachanov in the second round. But Fritz has a tough road ahead with a possible 4th round clash against Miomir Kecmanovic or Sebastian Korda and then Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.

With none of the Big-3 competing in Miami, it still has a stacked field with World No.2, Daniil Medvedev, Spanish teen phenom Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in running for the title. Fritz might be an underdog but given his stunning run in Indian Wells, it will be tough to write off the American for the title bid. If Fritz manages to do it, he will join the illustrious list of being only the 8th male player to win the Sunshine Double.