Leaving your children at home while you go through a hectic tennis calendar is no mean feat, an emotion Taylor Fritz echoed. The American was asked whether it was a struggle to stay away from his son for long periods due to the rigors of the sport, to which the World No. 7 gave a candid reply.

“Yeah. I mean, I think for me, it’s just really tough to be away,” said Fritz in his post-match press conference. “I have to travel and play, and I try to just make the most of the time I can spend with my son when I’m home and, you know, do the best I can, just FaceTime and all that. And I would absolutely love to bring him on the road and have him travel with me, but there are just certain things that are stopping that from happening. So, it’s not really up to me”.

Fritz’s son Jordan is 9 years old, the child of the American player and his ex-wife, Raquel Pedraza. Fritz was 18 when he married and welcomed his son into his life at 19. However, the relationships ran their course when Fritz and Pedraza separated in 2019, but both remain actively involved in Jordan’s upbringing. Following that, Fritz was in a six-year relationship with influencer Morgan Riddle, but the couple recently called it quits.

Having family members and children around helps tennis players maintain refreshed focus during tournaments and helps them tackle the calendar as a whole. For stars like Novak Djokovic, his children, Stefan and Tara, are regularly present in the Serb’s box at Grand Slams, as he prefers having them on the road. Even Serena Williams, who made her historic comeback at Wimbledon this year, had her daughters, Olympia and Adira, in the stands.

Even though Fritz is missing his son, the American has hit the ground running at Wimbledon, despite being handed a potentially tricky draw in the first place.

Taylor Fritz Had a Great Start to His Wimbledon Campaign

Coming into Wimbledon, Fritz showed excellent grass-court form, reaching finals in Stuttgart and Halle, but the draw would have made the American think twice about an easy run to the Championships. Former World No.4 and home favorite Jack Draper awaited Fritz in the very first round, with the Brit having a good grass-court stint of his own at Eastbourne.

However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Draper had to withdraw from the event at the last moment, as the Brit’s old issue of bone bruising resurfaced, an injury which saw him cut his season short last year. This made the path relatively easier for Fritz, who had to face lucky loser Dusan Lajovic in the first round. Fritz was confident as he entered the court, wearing an all-white jacket and trousers, along with a scarf, an initiative of BOSS, for which the American is a brand ambassador.

Coming to the match, Fritz had to hardly break a sweat against the Serbian opponent, who’s known for his clay-court game. The American faced only one break point in the match, breaking his opponent four times, wrapping up a routine 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win. This match gave the seventh seed the momentum, which he used to dispatch his countryman, Patrick Kypson, in the second round in straight sets and will now face either Lorenzo Sonego or Gabriel Diallo in the next round. With Ben Shelton suffering a shock first-round loss, Fritz is one of America’s biggest hopes to have a deep run at SW19 this year, which is not unwarranted, given that the American reached the semifinal here last year.