A “cheeky” Taylor Fritz is just what tennis needs.
That’s according to fellow tennis pro Nick Kyrgios, who lauded the American athlete following his now-viral exchange Thursday with France’s Arthur Rinderknech at Wimbledon, where Fritz told his opponent to “have a nice flight home” after his second-round win.
“This is what the sport needs,” the Australian posted Friday on X, alongside eyeball and airplane emojis.
“@Taylor_Fritz97 cheeky……”
Thursday’s contest between Fritz, 26, and Rinderknech, 28, served as a rematch following their second-round matchup at last year’s French Open, which Fritz won.
At the time, Fritz shushed the booing crowd — a moment Rinderknech referenced before Thursday’s meeting.
“The atmosphere will be quieter (than at Roland Garros) and he won’t cry as much,” Rinderknech said, according to Tennis.com.
“He whined a bit saying it was too noisy. I hold no grudge against him, but he was wrong if he thought the French crowd would send him kisses in between points.”
Fritz, who reached the quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 2022, ultimately used the bulletin board material to take down the Frenchman.
“It just gives me extra fire, obviously,” said Fritz, who will next face Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in the third round.
“I’m a very chill person. I don’t do anything that could rub people the wrong way. When someone 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.’”
Fritz offered a pointed reply when Rinderknech stated he’s still competing in doubles.
“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,” Fritz said.
Meanwhile, Kyrgios, 29, has been covering this year’s tournament as he remains sidelined due to injury.
He reached the men’s final at Wimbledon in 2022 and lost to Novak Djokovic.
