Quote of the Day: Taylor Fritz tells Arthur Rinderknech to "have a nice flight home"

If Taylor Fritz was a drink, we think the American would definitely be a spicy margarita.

Things got a bit heated at Wimbledon after the No. 13 seed defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Court 12, with Fritz telling his opponent to “have a nice flight home” during their post-match handshake.

This beef has some backstory, dating back to the pair’s previous meeting at Roland Garros in 2023. With the partisan French crowd behind him, Rinderknech pulled out the first set, but ultimately fell 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4—and then Fritz famously held up his finger to shush the rowdy fans on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

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Rinderknech took issue with the gesture then, and he took issue with it again a year later when the pair advanced to the second round at Wimbledon.

“The atmosphere will be quieter (than at Roland Garros) and he won’t cry as much,” the Frenchman told press ahead of their meeting. “He whined a bit saying it was too noisy. I hold no grudge against him, but he was wrong if he thought the French crowd would send him kisses in between points.”

That quote went around the world and back on social media, but as soon as it crossed Fritz’s feed “the match was basically over” and he was determined to claim another victory.

Q: Before your match Rinderknech said he wasn't too pleased with your prior match at the French Open, (made comments about) your composure and all that stuff. Do you listen to those things ahead of a match like this? Does it motivate you extra when you go on court?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, normally I don't, but it's tough not to when someone kind of goes

out of their way to take a jab at you. It's tough not to see it, because everyone is just going to tag me (on social media) and make sure I see it.

As soon as I saw it, the match was basically over…

It just gives me extra fire, obviously. I'm a very chill person. I don't do anything that could rub people the wrong way. When someone just goes out of their way to take a shot at me, then I'm not just going to take it. It gave me the extra fire to win.

When we shook hands, I just said, Have a nice flight home.

When someone just goes out of their way to take a shot at me, I'm not just going to take it. It gave me the extra fire to win. Taylor Fritz after R2 win

Spicy handshake aside, Fritz has otherwise progressed smoothly into the third round at Wimbledon at the expense of one set. The No. 13 seed eased past Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in his opening match, and progressed past Rinderknech with only a minor blip in the third set.

The American has emerged as one of the tournament’s top darkhorse contenders after a productive grass-court swing in the lead-up to The Championships.

At the cinch Championship, Fritz made the quarterfinals in singles and partnered with Karen Khachanov to reach his second consecutive doubles final at Queen’s Club. In Eastbourne, Fritz added a third grass-court trophy to his collection after defeating Max Purcell in the final—his serve wasn’t broken all week long en route to the title.

Up next, No. 13 seed Fritz will face No. 24 Alejandro Tabilo in the third round at Wimbledon. Rinderknech, still in doubles with Nuno Borges, will be back in action on Court 16 on Thursday.