US Open finalist Taylor Fritz talks League of Legends, why he hated tennis and how he copied Sampras

TURIN, Italy -- The first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 15 years has been spending plenty of time in indoor arenas lately.

Not just for tennis, though.

U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz fed his passion for the League of Legends video game by attending the world championships for the esports league in Paris and London, respectively.

“It’s one of the things I enjoy, to like kind of grind and play when I’m not playing (tennis),” Fritz told The Associated Press in an interview at the ATP Finals. “I’m such a competitive person so I like to compete in other ways.”

The Legends semifinals were held in Paris just before Fritz was due to play at the Paris Masters. Then he went to London for the final.

It was nothing to do with Fritz’s sponsors, this was purely a personal thing. He wanted to watch the best.

“The O2 Arena was packed,” Fritz said. “It was honestly one of the coolest things I’ve ever been to.”

Fritz also plays Legends in his spare time. His position in the game is called “jungler.”

“You’re kind of the overseer and you’re paying attention to a lot more things than maybe some other people are,” Fritz said.

He won’t play Legends before his tennis matches, though.

“It sounds crazy, but the game — and especially the position I play in the game — is very mentally taxing and mentally draining,” Fritz said. “I have to be super dialed in.”

Fritz has also been super dialed in on the tennis court lately.

When he reached the U.S. Open final two months ago, he became the first American man in a Grand Slam singles championship match since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009 — and the first at the U.S. Open since Roddick lost to Federer in 2006.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Fritz said.

At 27 and matching his career-best ranking of No. 5, Fritz feels like he has “several more really good years” ahead.

“My career has always been a very steady progression and just improving a little bit each year,” he added. “I wish I was this good when I was 20, 24. But I’m glad we got to this point at all.”

Fritz is off to a strong start at the ATP Finals, having beaten Daniil Medvedev in straight sets on Sunday at the tournament for the year's top eight players.

On Tuesday, Fritz will face top-ranked Jannik Sinner in a rematch of the U.S. Open final that Sinner won in straight sets.

“I think I’ve done a good job since then kind of working on those things and improving,” Fritz said of some recent adjustments. “I’m excited at the opportunity to see if what I’ve been doing will help me.”

Fritz grew up in San Diego emulating fellow Californian Pete Sampras and trying to imitate the 14-time Grand Slam champion’s serve.

“I lift my toe up on my left foot — that’s literally just because I tried to copy his serve and he would do that,” Fritz said. “It really doesn’t look very similar. It’s kind of my version of what I came up with after watching his serve.”

Nevertheless, the 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Fritz is one of the top servers on tour. And there's another connection to his idol: One of Fritz’s coaches, Paul Annacone, formerly worked with Sampras.

Fritz’s mother, Kathy May, was a top-10 player, and his father, Guy, is a tennis coach. He grew up with a tennis court in his backyard.

Still, Fritz’s dad had to “bribe” him to get on the court.

“I just hated playing tennis and I wanted to play every other sport,” Fritz said. “But it ended up working out because once I got a little bit older, I started to enjoy it more.

“I didn’t like practicing tennis when I was a kid. But I loved playing tournaments. I love getting out there and competing. And I started to see it in that way and I started to enjoy the hard work.”

Fritz often takes photos of his girlfriend, social media influencer Morgan Riddle, for her Instagram account.

“I’ve definitely gotten a lot better over the last couple of years but very reluctantly,” he said. “It’s very embarrassing in public when I’m taking pictures (and) people are looking at me taking pictures of her. But you got to do what you got to do sometimes. She also takes good pictures of me.”

Fritz opened up about his relationship with his son, Jordan, during the Netflix series “Break Point” last year, recounting how the boy was disappointed to learn that his father wasn’t No. 1 in the rankings.

So how did Jordan — who is from a previous relationship — react to Fritz reaching the U.S. Open final?

“I think he understood that that was a big deal,” Fritz said. “But it motivates me to do better, because every time I say, ‘I’m 5 in the world, 6 in the world,’ he’s very unimpressed. I think until I’m at the very top, it’s going to take a lot to impress him.”

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis