AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2026

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/S. Wawrinka

7-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Taylor, it was a close match with some tough conditions out there today, but you must be happy to get that win.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, obviously happy to get through in the end. I felt like he was playing good tennis. It was tough just atmosphere to play in. I'm happy it's over.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What was that atmosphere like? I don't know if you have been in a match before where it was sort of a retirement- type occasion for the opponent, and you lingered there during his little ceremony. What was it like for you to be a part of that whole scene?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, it is tough conditions to play in. I understand completely. I knew going in that the crowd was really going to be behind him and rallying him.

Yeah, it was cool to just be sitting there and see the whole thing. It's like I knew the second the video started playing, if I look at Stan, I'm going to start getting kind of emotional. I get like that.

I tried to not look at him too much, but it's cool. I told him at net what he's doing is incredible. From just being able to do it at his age, that's impressive, but more so, like, the mentality of it, like the passion and the love for the game and just the competitiveness, because he's someone who has absolutely nothing to prove.

Just to be out there working that hard, just competing, I mean, down a break in the fourth, just competing his ass off, I hope that I have that much passion for tennis when I'm older. I told him it's really impressive.

Q. What do you think you'll be doing at 40?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I'm not going to be playing tennis. Like, there's no way. With how my body has been feeling the last couple of years, there's no way I'm going to be able to hold on for another 12 years.

Q. As an alternative, what would you be doing?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I don't know. I think I'll always be involved in tennis in some way, so we'll see. I haven't started thinking about that yet. You know, I'm not that old yet, but I'm sure I'll still be in tennis.

Q. Have you started thinking about week two yet? When does that start?

TAYLOR FRITZ: We're there, so I'm definitely thinking about that.

Q. And what are you thinking?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I don't know. I'm just excited to take it one match at a time. We're kind of obviously in the closing parts of the tournament. I think there are some things that I want to do better, maybe some still body concerns after this match, but I think overall, the level is not bad. Like, I can work with a lot of the things that I'm doing on the court this week.

Q. Obviously you've talked about the knee, and you came into the tournament, seemed like you were kind of figuring out if you could rehab it at the same time you were playing. You're now three matches in playing pretty good ball, and you mentioned some other niggling injury that you didn't say what it was. Are you healthy enough to win the tournament?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I am a very optimistic person. I'm hoping I can get healthy enough to win the tournament during the tournament (smiling).

Q. I know it's one match at a time.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, to be honest, today is not the best one for me, like, body-wise. I think I said the other day I was starting to feel really confident. Maybe I'm overconfident in how my knee is feeling. Yeah, my knee feels pretty bad right now and felt not great in the match.

So weird because I didn't really do anything different, but I'm just going to keep going. Obviously after this tournament, I will, you know, get a little bit of time to keep improving everything.

Q. At the same time when you stepped up and you served great, you made adjustments to win the match. That's part of the matrix, right?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, yeah. I'm super happy with how the match went. But at the same time, I've been able to, you know, serve well I feel like even when I've been -- like, the injuries I'm dealing with in the knee when I've had them in the past, I've been able to serve. That's not really, I guess, the concern for me.

I guess maybe I was losing the legs a little bit towards the end with the knee, but I guess the load on the back leg. It was more, I felt, I was being very affected on return games. To be honest, I only really broke in the third and the fourth more to, like, him having a bit of an off game. It wasn't necessarily anything I did that well.

I mean, I'll take it, but yeah, I feel like I need to, I don't know, be able to do more.

Q. How much did you see of Eliot's match against Sinner? Because it was the first moment in this tournament where I feel like everybody was watching one court seeing one of these two big guys in some jeopardy. Did you watch it?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I didn't see too much of it. I literally just saw the part where it looked like Jannik was cramping and Eliot broke, so that five-minute window. Then I went to start doing my stuff.

Q. Obviously it obviously matters for the tournament if Sinner or Alcaraz are wobbling, but is there a vibe where something might actually be happening here in one of these matches that maybe wasn't circled as a big possibility beforehand?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Sorry, what do you mean?

Q. I'm saying, did it send tremors through the locker room to see Sinner at all on the ropes?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, for sure. When it's happening, like, people are obviously gathered around the TV watching, because they want to see what happens. But I think that happens any time, like, an upset is brewing or someone is in trouble or it's like a big tiebreak or something. Everyone kind of gathers around and wants to see what's going on.

Q. Lorenzo on a hard court?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, he beat me on a grass court, so I think he's pretty good on all surfaces. I think he's improved a lot on fast surfaces. Obviously we just played at World Tour Finals, and, yeah, he's crafty. I would say he's great at neutralizing power and big serving.

So it makes the matchup tough, but, you know, I was able to get him then. Yeah, I have to play well.