US TENNIS STAR TAYLOR FRITZ IN WIMBLEDON HANDSHAKE ROW AFTER SNIDE REMARK
US tennis star Taylor Fritz harshly told his French adversary Arthur Rinderknech to "have a nice flight home" as their Wimbledon match ended on a sour note. Fritz, who is the 13th seed for the tournament, won 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4, but the post-match conversation was dominated by a disagreement at the net during the handshake.
Rinderknech had stoked the flames on the eve of the match by bringing up the 2023 French Open contest between them.
During a tense afternoon at Roland Garros, Fritz was met with boos and jeers as he defeated the French player, and he responded to his victory by silencing the crowd with a finger to his lips.
Rinderknech told French media outlet L'Equipe on Wednesday that Fritz had "whined" in Paris and "won't cry as much" in London. Fritz clearly took note of the comments, leading to a heated exchange before they left the court.
In his post-match press conference, the 26 year old admitted he initiated the confrontation after hearing his opponent's taunt. "As soon as I saw it, the match was basically over," he stated.
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"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. It gave me the extra fire to win. When we shook hands, I just said have a nice flight home."
Rinderknech, 28, isn't packing his bags just yet. He's scheduled to compete in the men's doubles later on Friday with Portuguese teammate Nuno Borges against British pair Charles Broom and Arthur Fery, a detail he apparently highlighted.
"He asked me what I said," Fritz went on. "I told him what I said. He informed me he was still in the doubles. I said, 'Oh congrats, good for you'. Then he started questioning '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."
Fritz is now set to face off against 24th seed Alejandro Tabilo from Chile for a spot in the fourth round. This match is slated for Saturday.
In 2022, Fritz made it to the quarter-finals at SW19, only to lose a two-set lead against Rafael Nadal. Adding insult to injury, the Spaniard subsequently pulled out of the tournament ahead of the semi-finals, giving Nick Kyrgios an uncontested pass to the final.
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