No 12. Taylor Fritz has discussed the possibility of him defeating Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic in tournaments, saying it be a challenge for him. He said he still needed to prepare himself, especially in his mental state.
The 24-year-old never had any wins against them. He said he wanted to prove himself by beating either Nadal, Federer, or Djokovic. He was adamant he would be able to defeat one of them with his current performance.
“I had a lot of big wins and I played a lot of good matches, but never against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer. I think it’s kind of a big mental hurdle to get over,” he said.
Fritz played his best result in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships as one of the ATP Grand Slam tournaments. He managed to qualify for the quarterfinals in his first match against Nadal, but he could not win the one at the Centre Court in Wimbledon. Fritz said he was ready for that match but also said that he still needed to improve.
“I felt like what I took away from that game was that mentally I proved to myself that I could get over the hurdle of one of these really big names,” Fritz said.
Fritz will debut in the upcoming Washington Open. He said that it would be a great opportunity to prove himself before facing the Big Three.
Big Three’s tournament participation
Nadal reportedly returned for practice for the upcoming US Open after being injured and walking off from the 2022 Wimbledon semifinals against Nick Kyrgios.
Despite the Spaniardnot participating in the same tournament as Federer and Djokovic, the three of them will play in 2022 ATP Tour events for the first time since July 2021.
Federer, who has been sidelined since last July, is confirmed to compete in the Swiss Indoors Basel on October 22-30. Federer was reportedly scheduled to play his opening match on October 25 at St. Jakobshalle’s stadium.
Statistically, Federer, who is currently listed as ATP No. 9, has won this event ten times. Prior to the Swiss Indoors, according to sources, Federer reportedly will participate in Laver Cup on September 23-25 together with Nadal. Both of them will work as a team for Team Europe.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back into competition later this year and Laver Cup is very much part of my plan,” Federer said.
However, the other Big Three, Djokovic will be not allowed to compete in the Australian Open in January due to his unvaccinated status. Djokovic earlier said he would rather miss out on any tournaments than be forced to get a vaccine for himself. He already missed the ATP Tour 1000 BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open that was held in March.
That being said, Djokovic was allowed to participate in Rolland Garros Grand Slam, ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, and the Dubai Open this year because the governments officially allowed people to enter the countries without vaccination.