Taylor Fritz expressed his empathy for school children in America as he reflected on his own experiences with returning to school during the U.S. Open. After his first-round victory over fellow American Darwin Blanch, Fritz recalled the excitement of the first weeks back at school, stating, "I was always pretty excited to go back to school after the summer, excited for the first week or two, and then, Oh, it sucks now, I don’t really want to do this."
Fritz, who participated in the juniors tournament from 2013 to 2015, noted that he missed the first two weeks of high school during his freshman year due to his commitments at the tournament, resulting in a significant amount of catch-up work.
As the U.S. Open coincides with the back-to-school season, Fritz mentioned that New York City schools will begin their academic year next week, while districts in Long Island and New Jersey typically return to classes in early September.
Coco Gauff, another American tennis player, shared a different perspective, having been homeschooled since third grade. She stated, "I went to the Open almost every year. I don’t ever recall doing schoolwork while I was here, so I think it was still, like, break for me. But yeah, unfortunately, I didn’t have a normal childhood, so yeah," after her win against Zeynep Sonmez.
Fritz, who aims to make a deep run in the tournament, emphasized the importance of winning a Grand Slam during his career, stating he would be "pretty disappointed in the end of it if I wasn’t able to achieve that." He is set to compete against Italy's Mattia Bellucci in the second round of the U.S. Open.