Taylor Fritz Press Conference | 2024 US Open Semifinal

Taylor if you would your thoughts on the win yeah I mean it's it's a it's a crazy match I think a lot of it was about just um handling the moment and uh the pressure and he he was playing at a at a very high level I felt like in the uh in the third and fourth sets and it was it was really about just staying in it and kind of just withstanding how much pressure he was putting on me from the Baseline with how he was uh I mean just either pulling me off the court on every shot or taking the ball super early changing directions which is like it's so hard to do what he was doing so just consistently so it was really just about trying to withstand it for as long as I could keep holding serve and and apply the uh the scoreboard pressure and just hope at you know a certain point that uh the erors are going to come a little more I'm going to get a little more looks to to attack and be aggressive and you know it it uh it got to that point in the end I finally started to get some some mistakes from him and and some balls that I could you know look to be a little more aggressive on thank you one question each please Eva congratulations Taylor um when you talk about kind of wanting to stay steady and then when you're out there realizing that Francis is starting to make those mistakes and you have an opportunity was it difficult for you at that moment like even though you've been steady the whole time to stay calm it was it was interesting so I think we both came out I think we both came out pretty tight I think he actually might have came out a little a little more tight than me but he calmed down quicker than I did so um I stayed a little tight for a little longer but um he was able to kind a rebound after the break and then and then take the first and that was tough really tough I guess mentally for me to kind of swallow that I was up a break like I I kind of just gave it I kind of just gave the set away off of like my my mistakes and like me being uh nervous and uh second set served well was able to consolidate a break third set played a really bad game to start and that was it and then when he started making those mistakes in the end of the fourth to let me win the fourth set that's it actually uh probably motivated me a little more because I was waiting the whole third and fourth set the whole fourth set especially I was just waiting for I was just like when's it going to come when's it going to come I'm like drilling balls to his forehand he's drilling him back whipping me off the court changing direction like it's just like it's just kind of what I was waiting for and then once he Maybe started making some mistakes started uh lifting the ball a little bit more um allowing me to attack more if anything it it calmed it calmed me down I think because it it just um I just felt like now I had some breathing room and it was more more in my hands I guess Peter just uh you know you were emotional on the court afterward just what were you thinking in that moment like what what were you feeling yeah I mean I I think I had really like fully I guess registered and like hit me uh when when Banks I guess said the thing about how in the finals and um and the crowd was cheering I'm just like a it's just kind of like how I am I'm like a more an emotional person when I'm happy when I'm like really happy like I cry at like happy endings in movies and like not at like sad stuff so that's like kind of just like how I am so it's just yeah it's just it's just Joy like the crowd Ing and kind of that realization like wow like I'm actually I'm I'm I'm in like the finals of the US Open it's such a you know lifelong I guess like dream come true is something I've worked my whole my whole life for to be in be in this situation so I think just kind of like realizing that like got me a little bit choked up Taylor can you just discuss um why you're confident that you have a shot on Sunday to bring this home for you I've I've always enjoyed enjoyed playing him to be be honest I don't think that um I'm going to be put in a more like stressful situation than I was today than playing the final I think today is like much more stressful than than me playing uh playing the final and I just I just feel good I I have a feeling that I'm going to come out and play play really well and when when I play good tennis it's it's uh I I think that level is good enough to win Chris can you tell about the um the way you said you were overwhelmed and you talked about how well Francis was playing and and how you had to manage it and try to apply scoreboard pressure but it was it was a seriously incredible effort by you to be able to do that given given the stakes and how are you able to do it and do you think that's been an integral part of who you are as a tennis player all along yeah I think one thing that's never been in doubt throughout my tennis career like whether I'm playing awful or hitting one side bad whatever the situation could be throughout my career the ups and downs I think one thing that's never been in question is just like my my heart and how I'm always going to compete uh no matter what and what I just kept telling myself was just to just to keep fighting and to keep working and if I if I don't give it just you know everything I have and just lock in as much as I possibly can I'm going to you know I'm going to regret it forever if I don't take every it's it's easy in that moment to just switch off and and not I guess not want to but uh yeah I just told myself I'm I'm I'm gonna always regret it if I just don't give it everything I have to to stay in and it was big I had to you know stay with him in some of those like really long uh crazy rallies because I wanted to show him that I wasn't gonna I wasn't going to go away and I was feeling fit and I was going to keep keep running for everything and fighting for every point and you know I think I think that itself made made a big difference for me Howard Matt Willie Howard Taylor Howard fendri for the Associated Press can you explain what you meant when you said a moment ago that you think tonight was more stressful than Sunday might be and that was also part of when you were talking about Sinner and enjoying that matchup if you could go into a little bit how or why that's the case yeah I mean I mean it's it's two it's two Americans to make it to the final both of us want to be the guy to make it to the final I had a six and one head-to-head leading into it so it's like and I'm not thinking that I'm I'm not going into this thinking that I'm uh the favorite because everything's totally different when you're playing a match like this he's been playing unbelievable all US Open he's been playing in the night match slot on on ash every single match like I'm not thinking I'm I'm the favorite but it's tough to go in as like uh the record six to one this is to make a US Open final um whoever wins it is the American that made it to the final it's uh it's I mean it's a stressful situation to be in it's it's different from playing um the world number one who you're probably not going to be the favorite against but um I think uh I've always I've always played well against against Yanik I think we're we're one in one it's been a while since we played but last time he got me in three at uh at Indian walls and uh I don't know he just he strikes he hits the ball big he's like a a a very strong ball Striker but I feel like I always hit the ball really really nice off of off of his ball and uh yeah I don't know I think I think uh I I typically play well against him Matt hey tell well done um you you're so close to Francis like on the court you're passing him at changeovers is there any before he cracked there and he had said his body was cramping he was suffering from nerves did you sense anything in his body language anything you're picking up that says this I think there's something different here I think he's wilting a little bit to be honest no he did an incredibly good job of uh not showing me to be honest I we played that one extremely long rally and I was trying my best to not show that I was pretty gassed after that point for me I feel like it's it's more like I'm gassed for like 30 seconds to like a minute I feel like I'm like I can't stand up but then once I can CH go to the change over sit down and like relax for a minute then I feel like I'm totally fine but in that moment when I went over the towel box I like bent over I was I didn't want to bend over I I had to I looked over at him and he didn't like go hands to knees or anything like that so I was like okay I know I feel awful like he he has to feel a little bit tired but he he he did a good job of making me believe that uh I guess he wasn't feeling any worse than than I was I think the only the only thing that I thought was funny or that I noticed very early on in the match I hit like a really uh like a really insane volley for for me and typically if I were to do something like that Francis would be like laughing and I would look he he loves to like laugh when I hit a good volley CU because he I mean my my voles aren't great and he always like overe exaggerates how bad it is so I looked over him expecting him to be like smiling at me and he was like dead serious so I was like okay he's like he's really serious he's really locked into this one cuz normally like he'd be he'd be like joking about something like that last two Willie and then Richard you can finish up Taylor what do you think your success and francis's until tonight and what the rest of the Americans have done here means and what do you think Sunday might mean for men's tennis after all these years I think regardless of regardless of the result I think it it gives hope and shows that we're we're knocking on the door of of uh of winning a slam and we have this this generation this group of guys where there's like four or five of us that are that are like actually at uh at this level so it uh I mean it shows that we're all moving in the right direction I think that um whenever one of us does something the others the others follow the others get belief from it and uh yeah I think I think this is just the uh just the start for for all of us Richard last question please thank you Taylor You've Been the leader of this particular group of guys for so long now from the outside it's kind of always felt like really you were supposed to be the first guy to get to this breakthrough and I just wondered if you ever saw it that way or did you have that kind of belief all along I know you're not one to say that you were the the head of the group but I imagine you had had some belief that you were supposed to be the guy I don't know if I if I like I mean I wanted it I I wanted to be to be the guy I that's what I all of us all of us want to be I wouldn't say I feel like I wouldn't say I felt like I was entitled to it um I just really just wanted obviously um I've been the highest ranked for a while I was able to win Indian Wells and then I I was I was like the only one that didn't have a slam semi-final so I really I really wanted that but but no I don't think I I felt like it it needed to be me or like it had to be me I just I really uh I don't know I just I just really wanted to have success at slams and and to and to get to this point but um yeah yeah I I I don't know I think it's uh it's just it's just a great feeling to be here and you know the match tonight could have could have gone either way and it could have easily been Francis in the final and if it was I I would have been I would have been super happy for him