WATCH: “I will knock you out,” Taylor Fritz gives a friendly threat to Frances Tiafoe for his prank
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Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe (Image Credit: Tennis.com)
Tennis players Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are great friends. Both have been a part of the US Davis Cup team and now represent the USA at the United Cup. Both have tried to pull pranks on each other before. In a similar episode, at the United Cup in Australia, the World No.19 tried to pull the pants of America’s No.1 ranked male player from behind as he and Jessica Pegula were giving an interview to Tennis TV after their match. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, as Taylor Fritz noticed, and looked back at his friend, and said a few words. His teammates burst into laughter.
Moreover, Frances Tiafoe’s Czech opponent Tomas Machac decided to retire after losing the first set and despite leading in the second set. This gave the Americans an insurmountable lead. The American pair of Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz won their match against the Czech pair of Marie Bouzkova and Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 3-6, 10-7. The Americans won their match against the Czech Republic 5-1.
Meanwhile, Tennis TV shared the clip of this prank on social media. Taylor Fritz is seen giving a friendly threat to Frances Tiafoe.
He also reminisced an incident when Frances Tiafoe was actually successful in pulling the pants of World No.9.
“Fun Fact – @FTiafoe has actually pantsed me in public before… when he grabbed my shorts there I thought it was all over,” Taylor Fritz wrote in his caption with laughing emojis.
The US Team will play Germany next in Sydney, Australia in their Group C match to advance into the next round of the United Cup 2023.
Taylor Fritz recalls his loss against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon 2022
The World No.9 reached the quarter-finals round of Wimbledon 2022. This was the first time he reached such an advanced stage in this tournament. He had hoped to advance into the semi-finals round here. However, the challenge of Rafael Nadal was unsurmountable. The Spaniard defeated the American 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, in a hard-fought match.
Taylor Fritz‘s defeat at the hands of an injured Rafael Nadal was not taken lightly by tennis fans and commentators. They mocked and criticized the 25-year-old. However, in an interview a few days back, Taylor Fritz shared his thoughts on that loss after almost six months.
“I felt like from the ground, forehand, backhand, movements, he was normal. Maybe for a couple of games it seemed like different, but in the fourth and the fifth set he was getting the balls back that a lot of people normally wouldn’t. The biggest difference with the injury was the serve. He started to serve maybe ten miles per hour slower, but I actually felt I was returning the serve better when he was serving it harder, because it was coming at me more and I had more pace to work with,” Taylor Fritz said.
When he started serving it softer because of the injury, I had to step up in the court more and I also had to swing more on the return because I had less pace to work with. So it sounds weird, but I actually felt like it was almost a bit tougher for me to hit strong-deep returns off of the softer serve,” he further continued.
Rafael Nadal is playing for his country at the United Cup. Spain is drawn in Group D with Australia and Great Britain. It is possible that Taylor Fritz may have his chance to play against World No.2 in this tournament.
Related: What is the prize money for the 2023 Australian Open?
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)