These days, the American tennis player was in the spotlight during a meeting with his rival in the second round of the British Grand Slam.
This Saturday, Alejandro Tabilo (19th ATP) will play the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in his career. He will do so with the feeling of having won the ATP 250 title in Mallorca less than a week ago and of being the brand new number one in Chile.
Of course, the battle to secure a place in the round of 16 will not be easy, since he will face one of the best grass-court players currently on the circuit: Taylor Fritz. The American, world number 12, has lifted the Eastbourne ATP 250 Title for the third time in his career and reached the Queen’s ATP 500 doubles final for the second consecutive year.
A status that places him as a favorite at Wimbledon, but which in recent days has been eclipsed by a strong controversy that has arisen with his rival in the second round, the French tennis player Arthur Rinderknech.
It all goes back to the duel they both had last year at Roland Garros. On that occasion, Fritz beat Rinderknech in the second round and, celebrating his victory, he did so in front of the crowd. He ordered them to be quiet, pointing his index finger at them, provoking even more boos from the stands. something that happened again when the California native attempted to speak on the official show.
It was one of the postcards of Roland Garros, a topic he even addressed in a later interview with iNews. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cheering for your player, I don’t expect to go out and have people cheer for me, but I would appreciate the decency of letting me get the second after missing the first. Celebrating every time I miss a first (serve) is crazy. “I didn’t want to do anything during the match because it would have made things worse. I was respectful because I didn’t want things to get worse. When it was over, I allowed myself to tell them to shut up. The fans have to understand that I have the right to do that,” he reflected on that occasion.
A year later, the situation deteriorated further at Wimbledon. The team faced Fritz with Rinderknech in the second round of the British tournament and the Frenchman did not miss the opportunity to warm up the preview by recalling that night in Paris.The atmosphere will be calmer and you will cry a little less. “I have nothing against him, but if he expected the French public to embrace him between points, he was wrong,” said the French tennis player.
A phrase that was taken up by most of the specialized media on the planet and that Fritz also read, because once the duel of this Thursday at Wimbledon was over, he sent his rival a clear “I know what you did” on the Internet.
It was so obvious that the questions asked at the press conference following his victory immediately revolved around this subject.Normally I don’t pay attention to this kind of thing, but it’s hard not to see it when someone is going out of their way to throw a dart at you. “It was hard not to see it because everyone was tagging me, they were making sure I saw it. As soon as I saw it, the game was pretty much over,” he said bluntly.
But this was not his only intervention on the subject because in this same case, he reflected on the controversy and revealed what they had discussed on the network. “It is something that gives me an extra fire, obviously. I am a very calm person. I do not do anything that could upset anyone, so when someone does it, I do not accept it. This gave me an extra strength to win. When we shook hands online, I told him “have a good flight home”. He asked me what I had said and I repeated it to him. He told me that he always competed in doubles and I told him that it was good for him. He began to wonder why it was like this. Iand I said he knew what he said. Don’t disrespect me before the game and then expect it to be nice. “That’s not how it works,” the American explained.
With the tension behind him, Fritz will look this Saturday to end Tabilo’s great streak, which has six consecutive victories on grass. This will be the third time the two have faced each other, although the first on grass. For now, it is the San Diego native who has celebrated. First Houston 2022 and this year at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
