By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Taylor Fritz took a major bite of the ATP food chain and celebrated with a burger bash.
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The 20th-seeded Fritz fought off a gimpy ankle and fellow wounded warrior Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(5) in the Indian Wells final snapping the Spaniard’s 20-match winning streak to claim the biggest championship of his career at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.
Fritz became the first American man to win Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 2001 and said he's cautiously optimistic there's "a good chance" he'll be ready for his Miami Open opener.
"Obviously, the last day of the tournament just was a lot with my ankle, thinking that I wasn't going to be able to play the final, then playing the final and feeling really good in it. Obviously with Rafa being injured as well," Fritz told the media in Miami today. "Obviously just really, really happy to get the first Masters 1000 title. Then to be here thinking there's probably a good chance I'll be able to play here."
While Fritz hoped to high tail it back to L.A. for a champagne celebration, by the time he was done with his media obligations and drove him he settled for more subdued celebration: In-N-Out Burgers.
"First stop was to In-N-Out. When I won my first challengers in California when I was 17, that's also where I went, when I won my first-ever pro tournament," Fritz told the media in Miami. "Had to go to In-and-Out. Drove back to L.A. I wanted to go out that night, it's a Sunday night, but I wanted to go out and celebrate. Champagne, all that.
"Got there pretty late, so had kind of like a half celebration. Had to wake up early the next morning to get my ankle MRI'ed. I couldn't go all out. Maybe I'll find a time for it."
The good news for Fritz is he believes the ankle will permit him to play Miami.
The 11th-seeded Fritz has a first-round bye and will face either US Open quarterfinalist Botic van de Zandschulp or qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in his opener.
For now, Fritz is playing the waiting game to see how his ankle responds to treatment.
"It's really tough to tell. The MRI was really positive or else I wouldn't be here," Fritz said of his ankle. "We were worried about a lot of things before the final because obviously the doctors at the tournament inspected it, physios inspected it. We were worried about a potential stress fracture. I don't know the actual name of the bone, but one of the back bones in the ankle...
"The process now is just trying to get the inflammation down. I'll have a hit. It feels right now a lot like it felt before the finals, where I can walk and I think it's fine. The day of the final match I wasn't really sure how I was going to feel until I actually stepped on the warmup court. I took a hard push-off step that I didn't think I was going to be able to play.
"That's kind of how it feels right now. I'll see if that's the same case when I go on the court to practice. I'm hoping that it's not, that it will feel a little better. Definitely still not there yet."
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty