Wimbledon: Typically reserved Fritz throws post-match barb at Rinderknech
Fritz was responding to Arthur Rinderknech’s earlier comments
Taylor Fritz is not usually one to stir drama, but on Thursday at Wimbledon, the American did just that with a pointed comment to Arthur Rinderknech after their second-round match.
“Have a nice flight home,” Fritz said to the Frenchman at the net after defeating him 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
When Rinderknech tried to engage further, Fritz shut him down saying, “You know what you did. Yeah, you know what you did.”
What’s the beef between Fritz and Rinderknech?
Fritz and Rinderknech had been involved in a heated match last year at Roland-Garros. The Parisian crowd were unsurprisingly behind their local player and vocal in support for Rinderknech.
Fritz took exception to some of the heat coming his way from the French fans, putting his finger to his lips to silence them–which only extracted more ire. After he defeated Rinderknech, Fritz further heckled the crowd by gesturing at them and egging them on.
Ahead of their second-round rematch, Rinderknech made a comment to media about Fritz, saying, “the atmosphere will be quieter [than at Roland-Garros] and he won’t cry as much.”
As the No 13 seed told media after the match, that comment got his heckles up.
“It’s just gives me extra fire, obviously. 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,” he explained.
The American went on to unpack the altercation more, detailing what happened.
“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.”
The 26-year-old will now face Alejandro Tabilo in the third round of Wimbledon, with the No 24 seed outlasting Flavio Cobolli 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 4-6, 4-6, 6-4 earlier.
