Taylor Fritz left the court at Roland Garros in a wheelchair. He felt a pop in his right knee during match point in his second-round French Open loss to Dominik Koepfer and was unable to walk off the court.
An MRI the next day revealed it was a torn meniscus and he would need surgery as soon as he got home to California. But despite the short window of time between the two tournaments, he was determined to recover in time for Wimbledon.
On Saturday -- one month to the day of his injury -- the 23-year-old will take on No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in the third round at the All England Club with a spot in his first major Round of 16 on the line.
ESPN.com caught up with Fritz on Friday, as he received treatment from his physio, and discussed the matchup, what the past month has been like and the importance of having friends on tour.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
How are you feeling entering tomorrow's match, both physically and mentally?
Fritz: My body is definitely pretty beaten up just because I had to, with the rain delays, play back-to-back days, which I've never had to do [at a major], with four sets in the first round and then five sets yesterday. Almost seven hours on the court in two days is tough. But surprisingly, my knee feels completely fine.
100% fine?
Fritz: Yeah, totally fine. The rest of my body's pretty sore, but the knee is OK so that's the unexpected but good news. I think it's because I didn't get to have any grass court lead-up and you tend to move differently on grass. You're a bit lower, I think it burns out your legs a little more. I think just showing up and jumping right straight into Wimbledon with only having a couple days of two-hour practices beforehand is going to be tough on the body.
Having not gotten a chance to play in any of the lead-in events and playing on grass for the first time in two years and coming off of a surgery, what were your expectations for this tournament?
Fritz: To show up and win matches honestly. Maybe I set my expectations too high but coming in seeded, I expected to win at least my first two rounds. I knew that was possible if I could just serve really well and compete really hard and that's basically what I've been doing. I haven't necessarily been playing at my highest level, but I've been taking care of my serve and then just kind of fighting and competing my way through it and finding ways to break my opponent's serve and win.
When you were told you needed surgery, how realistic did it seem that you would be able to play here in the first place?
Fritz: The day I got the MRI, a day after I tore my meniscus, was 28 days away from the start of Wimbledon and I was told some people can come back from this in about a month. So I thought, 'Well, it's possible.' The day I got the surgery was exactly three weeks out of when Wimbledon would start so I was thinking more like, 'OK, now it's going to be tough, but we'll see.' I was just really determined and I kind of had this goal. I'm a very stubborn person so when I kind of put in my mind that I want to play Wimbledon, that's all I could think about. And so I was just really motivated and determined. And I just had that set in my mind that I was going to play Wimbledon and I wasn't going to let anything else stop me.
Were your doctors supportive of this plan or did they try to talk you out of it?
Fritz: Everyone said it was possible. Obviously everyone on my team, including doctors, they want to lean more on the side of caution because no one wants to tell me to go do something that could result in affecting the longevity of my career. That's more important than just playing one Wimbledon and that's why we took it one step at a time. I had surgery, we very slowly started to practice lightly and I was doing tons of PT every day. And then when I went to get the stitches out and the doctor looked at the swelling and he said, 'The swelling is less than normal for this stage.' He said I could go, I would just have to be careful.
So how many days ahead of Wimbledon did you decide you were definitely coming?
Fritz: In my mind, I was always going.
You never doubted it?
Fritz: No. Never.
And here you are, now getting ready for your match with Zverev. What are you expecting from the matchup, and what do you think you need to do to win?
Fritz: As far as like the matchup goes, I feel good about it. I had a five setter, a tough five setter with him a couple of years ago here (in the second round at Wimbledon in 2018) and our most recent match I won (at Basel in 2019). And so matchup wise and all that, I know what I need to do and I know I need to play really good tennis to win, but at least I know that I can do it because I've done it before.
How are you preparing today for a match like that?
Fritz: Really just making sure that I can use today to recover my body and make sure that I'm feeling the best I possibly can for the match because obviously my body's been through a lot the last two days. So a lot of it's just going to depend on how well I can recover for the match. It's an hour bus ride to the courts and an hour back and so I decided it would just be better to just go in the gym at the hotel and bike and do some stuff like that instead of having a light hit. I've definitely played enough tennis the last few days.
That commute to the grounds is obviously a lot different this year than normal. Several players have talked about how challenging the ongoing restrictions and protocols have been. What's it been like for you?
Fritz: It's tough. I think in the beginning I was OK because I like to stay in my room, I like to play video games, but it gets frustrating because we're constantly around people at these tournaments that aren't in the bubble. If we're going to do it, let's do it right and like we did at the US Open last year. That's when I'm not going to complain about it because then we're actually being very COVID safe and doing everything correctly. But when we're coming into contact with people that aren't in a bubble every day, then it makes no sense.
Did those types of protocols factor into your decision to not play at the Olympics this summer?
Fritz: Not really. I was really excited last year for the whole Olympic experience, but it's mainly just my knee. [The USTA] needed answers earlier and I didn't think my knee was going to be ready for the pounding on the hardcourt. Obviously I'm testing right now at Wimbledon, it feels pretty good but I just didn't know. I think my time is better spent preparing for the US Open and the hardcourt series. But I'm going to play the Olympics in three years and I'll play the Olympics again in seven years. So it sucks to miss it, I really wanted to play for my country, but I think just unfortunate circumstances with the knee and everything.
So is the plan to go home after this and train for the hardcourt tournaments?
Fritz: I think that's the plan. I'm definitely going to go home after Wimbledon and just go back to give myself some time to recover and do some more PT. And then if the knee feels good, I'll go out to play the hard court tournaments before US Open.
What are your goals for the rest of the season?
Fritz: I definitely want to have a big run at like a Masters 1000 or a Slam. At least semis of a 1000 or quarters of Slams, something like that. I want to do that and then I also want to break into the top 20. And most likely if I do one of those first things, then the other one happens.
Switching gears here, you went viral yesterday for your comments about Nick Kyrgios' coaching ability. Did he really coach you during the Laver Cup?
Fritz: He really did. Honestly it was one of the most exciting matches I've ever played in my life. I beat [Dominic] Thiem at the Laver Cup to put us up in the lead and Nick 100% was talking me through that and telling me certain shots to use, which I'm using, like 100%. I'm someone who likes to just talk about tennis strategy and stuff and kind of gauge other people's tennis IQ and Nick is very, very knowledgeable. Let's say we're talking about how to play somebody, he'll be like, 'This works really well against them or they don't like it when you do this.' He understands the game of tennis much more than people give him credit for, because I think obviously people don't see him in that way of being like a good strategist, but he really is. He has a very high tennis IQ.
Are most players that forthcoming about sharing tips and advice like that?
Fritz: No. Not at all. But I would say among friends everyone talks what worked against someone and what didn't. I love hearing what people say about that because it's a great way to gauge their tennis knowledge and if they honestly know what they're talking about. I feel like one of my best qualities as a player is understanding the game and I have a lot of respect for other people who definitely know what they're talking about. Nick understands the game really well.
What is it like having friends on tour like that who can give you that kind of advice and camaraderie?
Fritz: It's always good to have company at these tournaments. It's great to have some of my best friends, like Reilly [Opelka] and Tommy [Paul] and Mackie [Mackenzie McDonald], on tour with me because when I was 18 and on tour, it was lonely. None of my friends were really on tour yet. And I'd say traveling wasn't as fun as it is now because I'm with all my friends. So I'm just looking forward to when we can finally start leaving the hotels at the tournament and do more things at tournaments like we were kind of doing in the end of 2019 because the end of 2019 was the most fun I had on tour ever.
What made it so fun?
Fritz: We could go out to dinners and stuff. We had always been playing different tournaments and had different rankings so our schedules had been different before and then we were finally all together. Traveling around the world and playing in the same tournaments as my best friends, it was just always fun.