Taylor "Baby Sampras" Fritz. The next great US player?

[onehandbh]

Can Taylor Fritz be the next great U.S. player?

He's only 17, and has recently rose to 339 after winning a Challenger for the first time. This week he's back into the finals of another Challenger. Even if he loses, he will be ranked about 250 afterwards. If he wins, he's up to almost 200.

At the beginning of the year he was ranked about 1100.

 

[Chadillac]

Thanks to espn3 i have watched him play alot. Probably the laziest player ive seen (since i recorded myself playing), it looks like he should be losing but always wins. He is one of those guys, hard to describe.

Opeleka (sp maybe) is our best physcial talent but fritz has the natural gift, not physically but the way he see's points. At his age thats pretty amazing

 

[beltsman]

Might be a tad too tall.

 

[onehandbh]

Might be a tad too tall.

Opelka or Fritz? How about Baughman?

 

[Chadillac]

Might be a tad too tall.

Ive watched him play, amazing groundstrokes for someone of his size. Looks like semi pusher karlovic, meaning steady groundstrokes and a monster serve. He needs to beef up a bit but probably the best baseliner on earth 6'8+

Havent seen baughman yet, was doing espn3 replays

edit, #2 behind kevin anderson, he has picked up alot from the baseline

 

[onehandbh]

Opelka is 6'8"+ ? can he move like a top NBA player (e.g. Kobe) at that similar height or does he move more like Chris Dudley?

 

[Chadillac]

Opelka is 6'8"+ ? can he move like a top NBA player (e.g. Kobe) at that similar height or does he move more like Chris Dudley?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reilly_Opelka

Wow, he is 6'11. He doesnt look as clumsy as the bigger guys when he changes directions. He isnt kobe but isnt dudley. I was impressed with his ground strokes, his first serve was avg'ing like 130 at wimbledon

 

[onehandbh]

Fritz just rolled through the whole Fairfield challenger without losing a set.

Two challenger titles in a row. Only one set lost in 10 matches.

 

[Booger]

He's a good player, but to be honest, not the freak athlete I was hoping for. ATP has made it clear that baseline grinding is the future of tennis. We could really use an NBA/NFL caliber athlete who runs a 4.4, not (another) one who wouldn't make the high school varsity team.

 

[FedLIKEnot]

I like his games he developed points well from what I saw at the Fairfield Challenger. Does seem lumbering at times but always gets their with enough time to do something with the shot.

As far as type of athlete their is something to be said for somehow finding a athlete with the specs so to speak of a D1 shooting guard. That'd put this hypothetical person at around 6'3-6'5 and around 220lbs or so with great movement and quickness and obviously long(er) "levers" to attack angles and such. That said tennis will always lose that sort of athlete in the US to other sports. But it's been said given body type and athletic talent Sampras could've played D1 basketball. In fact one of the club players at Rancho Solano (the site that hosted the challenger) played pickup against Sampras as he was a basketball player at Stanford in the early 90s and said as much himself. So sort of backs the point.

 

[onehandbh]

In the U.S. it will be tough to attract better athletes from the other sports unless tennis becomes more popular and financially lucrative.

If you took a poll of high school students and asked them what sport they'd like to play, tennis would not be near the top of the list.

 

[onehandbh]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news...light-19-october-2015-fritz-goes-back-to-back

 

[Ihatetennis]

If you want tennis to be popular in the us, you have to make it a "sexy" sport

guys don't go into tennis because of the stigma that it is girly, we just need to have more news out there of how tennis players end up with beautiful women

lamar odom was on the kardashians(not the best example) or tony parker and eva longoria

but people don't even know that ryan sweeting married one of the most popular girls in television kalye cuoco

if tennis players had more people show their personal lives and parade them in the same way that other athletes are paraded around, then maybe we would have more players going into it.

because lets face it, a good amount of motivation in sports is to assert dominance and show better prospect as a mate

its just primitive instincts that are played to and what makes some of these decisions.

 

[Rogie500]

Thanks to espn3 i have watched him play alot. Probably the laziest player ive seen (since i recorded myself playing), it looks like he should be losing but always wins. He is one of those guys, hard to describe.

Opeleka (sp maybe) is our best physcial talent but fritz has the natural gift, not physically but the way he see's points. At his age thats pretty amazing

lol kind of like watching Tomic or krygios play, its like like they dont move but some how get to the ball.

 

[Chadillac]

We could really use an NBA/NFL caliber athlete who runs a 4.4, not (another) one who wouldn't make the high school varsity team.

The bigger the body, the smaller the brain. Those guys dont translate to a sport like tennis.

 

[silentkman]

The bigger the body, the smaller the brain. Those guys dont translate to a sport like tennis.

The bottom line is that the money is not there for tennis. You have to be in TOP 100 to make a 'decent living'. The USTA has said that it cost $140K a year to play tennis. The 100th rank money leader has made $369K, better than I thought. the 100th ranked golfer has made a million already. Maybe the tennis players have the small brains.

 

[loci]

it's too early to make any judgement. we don't know what tomorrow brings, so as fans and supporters of this sport, the hype ought to be kept to a minimum. as the saying goes, "tomorrow will take care of itself." all he can do is live in the present moment and try his best. let's see how he does. i wish him well.

 

[Chadillac]

it's too early to make any judgement. we don't know what tomorrow brings, so as fans and supporters of this sport, the hype ought to be kept to a minimum. as the saying goes, "tomorrow will take care of itself." all he can do is live in the present moment and try his best. let's see how he does. i wish him well.

A failed tennis pro has a much better career than a failed nfl/nba player. You can teach or start an academy. You may not make a much, but your window is greater than 5 years to cash in.

 

[onehandbh]

A failed tennis pro has a much better career than a failed nfl/nba player. You can teach or start an academy. You may not make a much, but your window is greater than 5 years to cash in.

A guy who failed to make the NFL or NBA could also coach.

 

[Chadillac]

A guy who failed to make the NFL or NBA could also coach.

How much do you think a teach pro makes vs a basketball coach at the Y? You get more up front money in the nba/nfl but the window is very small to cash in.

I know a few pro's who got to like top 200, they are doing very well even at 50+ years old. $120 an hour isnt bad. I dont think there is a higher paying job that allows you to wear shorts

 

[onehandbh]

How much do you think a teach pro makes vs a basketball coach at the Y? You get more up front money in the nba/nfl but the window is very small to cash in.

I know a few pro's who got to like top 200, they are doing very well even at 50+ years old. $120 an hour isnt bad. I dont think there is a higher paying job that allows you to wear shorts

There are probably not a ton of 120/hr tennis pro jobs in each city, though. Getting to top 200 is no small task and usually requires a big time and financial commitment/support.

In baseball, football, and basketball, it doesn't cost as much. In terms of bang for the buck, golf might beat tennis. Saving every dollar in allowance you get as a kid and putting it into a mutual fund might be a better bang for the buck and most kids trying to be a pro tennis player.

 

[Ihatetennis]

Fritz is ranked 232 this week

And again he is playing another challenger

He is 17 and rising fast, he's beaten serious players too.

Brown smyzcek and Opelka are 3 big names he came up against in his draws


I saw taylor practice with the Bryan bros last year, he will be top 5. He seems like a better raonic to me tbh

 

[Ihatetennis]

a move to 205, he might make rg wimbleodn and us open auto acceptance if he keeps playing well, he has no major points to defend since he has gotten them all within a month

 

[David Le]

To me he's more of a "baby Raonic" but moves a little better with a better backhand.

 

[heninfan99]

Yes

 

[yash_chanda72]

He is in the US Open Finals

 

[ichaseballs]

minus the whole serve and volley aspect

 

[Tano]

minus the whole serve and volley aspect

And mobility, athleticism, mental strength and on and on.

 

[jackson vile]

We really have to stop with these player comparisons, no one will ever be like Sampras, Federer, Nadal, etc.