After a hard-fought win over Kei Nishikori, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech has advanced to the second round of Wimbledon. His opponent is none other than American star player Taylor Fritz. Rinderknech was smashed by Fritz at last year’s French Open, much to the annoyance of the partisan French crowd, which gave Fritz a hard time.
During the match, Fritz took the crowd’s verbal assaults on the chin. But after the match was over Fritz made his feelings known. He tried to silence the crowd who had come to watch their local star player. But that only annoyed Rinderknech, who called Fritz a whinger for blaming the crowd.
It’s clear that Rinderknech hasn’t forgotten the loss at Roland Garros against Fritz. Speaking to L’Equipe, he said, “Taylor will cry a little less this time. He had whined a little, saying that there was a little too much noise for him. I have nothing against him, but he expected the French public to kiss him between points, he had a bad time… He had beaten me, well done to him.”
Fritz’s fans didn’t take kindly to Rinderknech’s response:
Rinderknech is and always will be a clown.
— Jack Rutter (@JackRutterrr) July 3, 2024
Same guy that retired after kicking a wall right?
— Millsyyy6 (@Mr_Mi1ls) July 4, 2024
Fritz own the French it’s nothing new
— Stacexyz (@eustace_on23966) July 3, 2024
I’ve never seen Fritz nervous
— Julia Pessoa (@julialimapessoa) July 3, 2024
More so, as Rinderknech himself is no idol of good behaviour on the court. He had kicked a wall during one of his French Open matches this year and retired hurt as a result. He had been nicely poised at 3-6, 6-7 (8-10), 6-1, 5-0 against Tomas Etcheverry when he had the meltdown, giving Etcheverry a walkover.
Will Fritz Respond to Rinderknech and Does He Enjoy Such Comments?
While players trash-talking about each other before a match happens in other sports, tennis isn’t usually one of them. But Rinderknech’s comments were enough to ignite a rivalry between him and Fritz. However, Fritz says he doesn’t get affected by such words.
In an interview with CLAY in 2022, Fritz said that he enjoys the drama in tennis. He pointed out that younger audiences in tennis today, appreciate such things. Verbal arguments, exchange of words before or during a match, etc are welcome as far as Fritz is concerned.
This also speaks volumes about Taylor Fritz’s mentality. Owing to this never-care attitude, he might just hold the edge over Rinderknech in their game. If Rinderknech had hoped at all to shake up Fritz’s game with his comments ahead of the match, it did not work. Fritz won 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
