“Many members of my team did not want me to play in the final”

Taylor Fritz celebrated this Sunday the most important title in his career so far, the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells, after defeating Rafa Nadal in the final of the tournament. A tournament with special symbolism for Fritz, since he got it in his native California and after overcoming physical discomfort after his semifinal match against Andrey Rublev.

In the post-match press conference, Fritz, who had attended Indian Wells since he was a child, recognized that this victory was a dream come true. “After the game I said to myself: ‘It’s not possible, it’s not possible’. I couldn’t believe it was real. I signed on camera and just put question marks. I was in shock, I couldn’t believe it. It was a childhood dream come true, a wild dream that you don’t expect to happen. I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Fritz’s victory has even more merit after overcoming the ankle discomfort he suffered during his match against Andrey Rublev in the semifinals and that almost left him without playing the final of the tournament. “In the warm-up I was in the worst pain imaginable. I was so upset and almost burst into tears because I thought I would have to retire. A lot of my team members wanted me to sit out the game. I won’t let them forget it because when I went out on the track it was no problem. I told them I would have been thinking about it for a long time if I hadn’t gone out and tried to play. They disagreed but supported my decision. I apologized for being so stubborn.”

After his victory in Indian Wells, Fritz sets new goals, some of them very ambitious such as sneaking into the Top-10 of the ATP ranking, something he has not yet achieved after the publication of the ranking this Monday, where he appears in 13th position. “I don’t want to anticipate events, I want to go step by step. My goal for the last few months has been to be in the Top-10 and this helps me a lot to get closer to that goal. That is still the goal, to reach the Top-10. But I would love to be even higher. It’s just a tournament. I need to keep working, I don’t have to be satisfied with the good results. I want more”.

The American tennis player also highlighted what has been one of the keys to his improvement in the tournament and that has allowed him to win the title. “Since the last edition of the tournament, what I’ve really improved on has been my forehand, releasing it and trusting it. It used to be a missed shot that made me lose matches. Now it’s like I have no problem hitting it at an important point and get extra points. I don’t know if I’ll be able to play in Miami yet. I feel bad for my team, I’m very stubborn.”