Taylor Fritz admitted that dealing with an injury going into the Indian Wells Masters final loosened him up and helped him to play pressure-free in an upset win over Rafael Nadal. On Netflix’s tennis documentary Break Point, it was shown how Fritz crushed onto the practice court on the morning of his Indian Wells final against Nadal.
But after taking a strong painkiller injection in his foot, Fritz was able to go out and stun Nadal 6-3 7-6 (5) for his first Masters title. “It helped me on the court. I knew I had absolutely nothing to lose, for sure. Being injured or people thinking you’re injured when you’re not, it depressurizes you.
Some people might do it on purpose, I absolutely don’t. I had a serious injury and I didn’t think I was going to play. It definitely loosened me up and I was like, who cares? I’m injured and let’s go out there and do what I can,” Fritz said on the Break Point: A Netflix Recap Show podcast, as quoted on Sportskeeda.
Fritz defied his team and played Nadal
On Break Point, it was detailed how Fritz’s entire team wanted him to give Nadal a walkover after the doctor advised the American not to go out. Fritz wasn’t interested in listening to the doctor or his team members as he took a strong painkiller injection and decided to at least try to play the final.
“The morning of (the final) was when I was like, I don’t think I can play. Sometimes you tweak something and you have a weird injury, you just sleep on it and the next day, it’s gone. Sometimes that happens and that happens quite a bit to me.
We get on the court and start the warm-up and the first step that I take where I laterally push off the ankle. I just felt the sharpest pain and I screamed. I went to the ground and I was like, this is awful,” Fritz recalled.
In the end, it ended up being the best day of Fritz’s career as he stunned Nadal to win the biggest title of his career in front of his home fans.
