Taylor Fritz won downed Arthur Rinderknech in their grudge match at Wimbledon and after match he made sure his opponent knew how he felt about Frenchman’s pre-match comments about him.
ATP #13 Frtiz downed Rinderknech in four sets at the All England Club on Thursday and their post-match handshake was not just about congrats and commiserations exchange.
In a long cold discussion at the net, American was heard saying: “You know what you did,” the American could be seen telling the Frenchman and the reply was: “I know what I did?”
But Fritz insisted: “Yeah, you know what you did.”
Their beef dates back to 2023 Roland Garros where Fritz also ended up as victor despite as he battled both Rinderknech and hostile crowd and after winning the match he made sure the French crowd knew he felt disrespected by their antics. “I love you guys. The crowd was just so great that I had to let it fire me up. They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks.”
Rinderknech bought the issue up again before their Wimbledon clash as he told French media: “I hold no grudge against him but he was wrong if he thought the crowd would send him kisses in between points.”
Fritz didn’t hold back from mentioning how his rival’s comments turned on his inner monster ahead of the mouthwatering clash.
“I normally I don’t [get riled by comments], but it’s tough not to when, obviously, someone kind of, I guess, goes out of their way to take a jab at you. It’s tough not to see it because everyone is just going to, like, tag me and make sure I see it,” he explained.
“As soon as I saw it, the match was basically over.”
Fritz triumphed 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and in his post-match press conference he revealed what he said to the Frenchman at the net after their match.
“It just gives me extra fire, obviously. I’m a very chill person,” the 26-year-old said. “I, like, 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’.
“He asked me what I said. I told him what I said. He told me he was in doubles still. 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.”