Taylor Fritz in fiery handshake after Wimbledon win: ‘Have a nice flight home’
Fritz defeated Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in their Wimbledon rematch after the pair clashed at Roland Garros last year
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Taylor Fritz told opponent Arthur Rinderknech to have a “nice flight home” in a fiery handshake after beating him to reach the third round of Wimbledon.
The American 13th seed was involved in a heated French Open clash with the Frenchman Rinderknech at Roland Garros last year, in which he shushed the rowdy home crowd after winning match point and was booed afterwards.
Rinderknech made reference to the match ahead of their Wimbledon meeting, and said in comments reported by French media: “The atmosphere will be quieter and he won’t cry as much.”
But Fritz won 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4 and delivered a brutal put-down at the net as the players shook hands before revealing he had “extra fire” and motivation to beat Rinderknech after hearing his comments.
“I’m a very chill person,” Fritz said afterwards. “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’.
“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.”
Taylor Fritz shushing 🤫 French open crowd after beating Arthur Rinderknech & telling them "I love you guys" after they boo him for 1min 30seconds. pic.twitter.com/6070OTgiNa
— Tennis Reaction vids (@DominicMEME) July 3, 2024
Fritz said it was hard not to see Rinderknech’s comments, which were posted all over social media before their rematch at Wimbledon.
“It’s tough not to [see the comments] when someone 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.
“As soon as I saw it, the match was basically over.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments