Yahoo Sports Taylor Fritz Is 'Looking Forward' to the 'Challenge' of Paris Olympics After His Big Wimbledon Run (Exclusive)
The tennis phenom, who plays in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon on Wednesday, will lead Team USA later this month in Paris
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Taylor Fritz is ready for Paris!
The 26-year-old tennis phenom tells PEOPLE that he is looking forward to his first Olympics — and the opportunity to lead Team USA to gold.
“I always loved team sports and I’ve always loved to represent Team USA in Davis Cup and the United Cup, so this is the ultimate,” Fritz says. “I’m just looking forward to the whole experience and being around so many incredible athletes.”
Along with Coco Gauff, the San Diego native will lead the line for USA, with a women’s team including Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro for singles, and doubles world No. 11 Desirae Krawczyk.
The men’s team includes Tommy Paul, Chris Eubanks and Marcos Giron selected to play singles, with world doubles No. 6 Rajeev Ram and No. 15 Austin Krajicek set to pair up.
For Fritz, the return to a familiar setting — Roland Garros — will offer an opportunity for redemption.
“I left the French Open a bit injured so I’m really happy with how quickly I’ve been able to bounce back,” Fritz, who is playing Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday, July 10 — tells PEOPLE. “Going into Wimbledon, I felt great and I hope I can take that same momentum into the Olympics.”
Fritz, who beat world No. 4 Alexander Zverev on Monday, is currently playing some of the best tennis of his career. One key to his recent success is that he makes sure with his busy schedule to do “all the extra recovery work and gym work” so that he’s ready for the next opponent.
“This is a long stretch and it’s definitely going to be a challenge to go back onto clay so quickly after being on the grass courts, but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to,” Fritz tells PEOPLE.
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Earlier this week, following his win at Wimbledon over Zverev, Fritz’s box drew attention when their raucous cheers drew his opponent’s seeming ire.
After a tense handshake after the match, Zverev explained his perspective to reporters.
“I think there's some other people that maybe are in the box that are not maybe from the tennis world, that are not maybe from particularly watching every single match,” he said. “They were a bit over the top."
For now, Fritz tells PEOPLE he's focusing on playing great tennis — and his return to Paris.
“It’s always special playing at Roland Garros so adding the Olympics to that equation is going to make it extra special,” he says.
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Read the original article on People.
