Reminiscing Taylor Fritz‘s villain mode in Paris from London! The 26-year-old American tennis star started his Wimbledon campaign strong, continuing his form from Eastbourne. He defeated Australia’s Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round and will now face France’s Arthur Rinderknech in the next round. Their last meeting at the 2023 French Open was filled with fireworks, and it seems Rinderknech hasn’t forgotten any moment from that encounter. While the Frenchman recalls those spicy moments, let’s find out the current reading on the Scoville scale!

Taylor Fritz won that match 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, but several moments from the match made headlines. The Parisian crowd was not happy with the American tennis star. They booed and whistled at him for defeating the Frenchman. During the match, Fritz was seen looking up into the stands and putting his right index finger to his lips to say, “Hush!” He held that pose briefly as he headed back towards the net for a handshake with his opponent.

Fritz yelled, “Come on! I want to hear it“, which angered the crowd further, resulting in more jeers during his on-court interview. He was again forced to say, “Shhhhh!” but the result was the same—more boos and whistles. Recalling those moments, Rinderknech said, “My friend Taylor! The atmosphere will be calmer and he will cry a little less this time, I think.“

The 28-year-old French tennis star further added, “He complained a little that time saying it was too loud for him. I have nothing against him, but if he expected the French crowd to give him kisses between points, he was in the wrong place. He beat me, bravo for him.”

Taylor Fritz has always enjoyed these little dramas during matches to ignite the flames inside him. Perhaps that’s why he showered so much love on the French crowd after that epic encounter in Paris.

“I love you guys!” – Taylor Fritz counters the boos and the whistles in his own-style

During a 2022 interview with CLAY, Taylor Fritz revealed, “Tennis needs younger audiences and what attracts people my age is drama. Whenever players have some kind of beef, maybe they don’t like each other, people are much more interested when they play.” He admitted that although he gets along with everyone on the Tour pretty well, these spicy little things between opponents always attract younger audiences.

In Paris, the audience supported Arthur Rinderknech right from the start; it was a “crazy atmosphere’. The intensity was so high that Fritz had to cut short his post-match on-court interview. However, he didn’t forget to give it back to the crowd with ‘pure love‘. He said, “I came out and the crowd was so great honestly. Like, the crowd was just so great.  They cheered so well for me, that I wanted to make sure that I won. Thanks, guys. Love you guys. I love you guys.”

Surely, there is a high possibility of more fireworks when they meet again on the courts. Can the ‘gentle grass’ withstand that intensity, though? Perhaps that’s what we need to look at now!