"How can you ever be the best in the world if you don't believe you can be?" - Taylor Fritz opens up about his fears of going pro at 17

Taylor Fritz has said that the belief about being the best in the world is key to turning pro at a tender age.

Currently ranked eighth in the world, the 25-year-old played his first match on the ATP tour at the ATP 250 Nottingham Open, beating Pablo Carreno Busta. The following year, Fritz made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the Australian Open, where he lost to compatriot Jack Sock in five sets. At his next stop in Memphis, the then World No. 145 reached the final before reaching the Acapulco 500 quarterfinals to break into the top 100.

Fritz brought up his first top-ten win and first win at a Major in 2017. The next year, he broke into the top 50 before winning his first singles title at Eastbourne in 2019. A first ATP 500 final followed in 2020 before Fritz became the top American player in 2021. Last year, he won his first ATP Masters and 500 titles, broke into the top ten and debuted in the ATP Finals in Turin.

In an interview with Team Optimum, Taylor Fritz opened up on the challenges of transitioning from the junior tour to the senior one:

"Turning pro at 17, I would say, is every top junior's fear. What I did so well in the juniors, what if I don't make it. I felt like a switch flip as soon as I turned pro, and I was like 'now it's all real'. Everything I did before was awesome, but now it's like 'this is ... this is it'."

The American provided a sneak peek of his mentality - his belief that he can be the best in the world:

"I've always known like, how can you ever be the best in the world, if you don't truly, like, believe you can be. You're never going to accomplish all the goals if you want to if you actually have that belief that you can do it."

Taylor Fritz was last seen in action at the 2023 Australian Open, where he made a second-round exit following defeat to Alexei Popyrin.

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You are 'pretty much playing every week', so you have to be physically strong: Taylor Fritz

American players had a great campaign Down Under, but Taylor Fritz was not one of them. The 25-year-old saved a match point against Alexei Popyrin in the fourth set but ran out of steam in the decider as he fell in the second round.

With tennis being a grueling year-round sport, players need to be physically strong to withstand the daily grind. Speaking about his nutrition and training before tournaments, he said:

"Tennis is basically year round. The season is ten months of the year, pretty much playing every week, so you have to be physically strong for your body to hold up. The everyday training, it varies, based on tournaments coming up, what I'm doing."

The 25-year-old added:

"Optimum nutrition fits into my routine in a lot of ways. I'm having protein after every practice, after every match. When I'm in a tournament training and playing, I'm always cycling through the protein as much as possible."