Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, longtime friends and recent Laver Cup teammates, will renew their ATP Tour rivalry in Sunday’s Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships final in Tokyo.
The 24-year-olds have matured together as professionals after first crossing paths on the junior circuit, with high expectations pinned on both as hopes for the future of American men’s tennis. But both finalists have thrived this season by blocking out the noise and focusing on the interior.
For Tiafoe, the pressure hasn’t been felt on the court of late, with the American winning 13 straight singles tiebreaks, including one in the second round in Tokyo. Similarly, the weight of expectation does not weigh him down.
“As far as the expectations that I have, so to speak, right now… I really don’t feel that way. I just want to win,” she said at a news conference in Tokyo. “I don’t really care what other people think I should be doing because I had recent success. I’ve been on the Tour for seven or eight years and none of it really moves me.”
“I want to win for myself. I am not trying to achieve anyone’s goals or [preocupándome] of what they think of me. I’m just trying to be the best I can be and enjoying this. It has been great. The US Open, the Laver Cup, will be here now. I’m having fun with that. I’m confident and I’m enjoying life, so I’m going to keep doing that.”
Fritz made remarkably similar comments after his semi-final win against Denis Shapovalov. A result that ensured his debut in the Top 10 of next Monday’s Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
“Now with all the media pressure on American tennis and all this stuff, I don’t really care anymore,” Fritz said. “I feel like I stopped caring a long time ago.”
“I think when I was 18 years old and I was the first to have really good results and do well when I was very young, I think back then maybe it affected me a little bit because I was very young and it all came out of nowhere. Now I’ve learned not to worry.”
“I think that all the pressure that I always feel is pressure that I put on myself, because I expect a lot from myself and I expect to do very well… I think it’s good that I do that because it motivates me and drives me.”
The parallel races of the Americans have resulted in a respectful rivalry on the court. Fritz leads the ATP Head2Head series 4-1, with wins in their last four meetings. But he pointed to the tight nature of those meetings: Three of them required deciding sets, including one in which Tiafoe gave up a 4-0 lead in the final set of their most recent meeting, two months ago in Montreal.
“It is always very tight when we play against each other. We’ve been close friends for a long time and it’s one of those things where we’re close friends, but we’re also rivals. I feel like there’s been this ongoing rivalry between us since we were probably 16 or 17 years old.”
“It will be fun. There is always tension when we play. It will be a good game.”
Tiafoe was the first of the two to book his place in the final courtesy of a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 victory against Soonwoo Kwon. He did not hide his great interest in the second semi-final on Saturday.
“Facing Taylor would be great,” he said. “We just won the Laver Cup together, so obviously we are, even before that, very good friends. But the bond becomes even tighter, doing something that never happened in tennis.”
“I love this guy. I’m happy to see what he’s been able to do, with him having COVID and all that in Korea… It just shows how competitive he is, that’s what makes him so hard to play against. He is a great competitor, he serves well, he has a great forehand, he is confident and he is improving as well. I hope to end up playing with him. I think he will be good.”
“May the best win”.
Tiafoe is seeking his second ATP Tour title (2018 Delray Beach) in his fifth final, including a run for the Estoril title in May. Fritz will be seeking his fourth tour-level crown and third of 2022 after wins at Indian Wells and Eastbourne.
The American final will be the first in Tokyo since Pete Sampras defeated Richey Reneberg in 1996, in what was the fourth straight American final at the event. By winning his third title in Tokyo, Sampras completed a five-year streak of American champions that also included two wins for Jim Courier.
The winner of Sunday’s main showdown will also join the entirety of the Big Four: Roger Federer (2006), Rafael Nadal (2010), Andy Murray (2011) and Novak Djokovic (2019), among the honor roll of champions. from Tokyo.
