"I hope I have a lot of people coming out and cheering for me": Fritz hopes to evoke Paris reception on Ultimate Tennis Showdown Return

Taylor Fritz will be playing in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Los Angeles and hopes to receive local support.

The World No. 9 will be part of the event organized by Patrick Mouratoglou this weekend, along with fellow Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, in a Round Robin format, followed by semifinals and a final with a total of 8 players.

Fritz will be competing at Dignity Health Sports Park and will feel right at home since he will be playing in his home state of California. This will be the third time that Fritz participates in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, and he will be aiming to win his first title.

Taylor Fritz recently experienced a controversy with the crowd during his visit to France for the 2023 Roland Garros. On that occasion, the 25-year-old tennis player was booed by the audience during the night session in which he defeated the local player Arthur Rinderknech in the first round.

A gesture of asking the fans to be quiet triggered a massive booing, so now Fritz is looking forward to receiving support as a local player in Los Angeles.

“Yeah I mean, I hope so. We’ll see. I hope I have a lot of people coming out and cheering for me, like in Paris,” Fritz said.

Taylor Fritz, with a live DJ playing to maintain the vibrant atmosphere characteristic of UTS, was asked what song he would like the DJ to play when he hits an ace.

“Probably go for something like Central Cee or Lil Uzi.”

One of the changes the tournament presents compared to the ATP Tour is that the second serve is not eliminated to maintain a faster pace of play. Fritz said that it doesn't bother him.

“I think it’s not bad for me because it’s obviously easier to return when you’re only serving one serve, and then I feel pretty comfortable just playing behind one serve. I don’t know, it worked out for me last time,” he added.