"If we were to win Davis Cup, I don't think it would be even talked about on ESPN or our sports channels in the US" - Taylor Fritz on the lack of publicity of the event

Taylor Fritz's Team USA lost a heartbreaker to Italy in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain, on Thursday, but the World No. 9 had an important point to make.

Fritz was the lone bright spot for his team as he beat rising star Lorenzo Musetti in the second rubber of the tie after Lorenzo Sonego had upset Frances Tiafoe earlier in the day.

Following the 7-6(8), 6-3 victory, the Indian Wells Masters champion was quizzed on the publicity of the Davis Cup back in the States in his postmatch press conference. Fritz bluntly replied that nobody in his country cares about it and that he doesn't even expect it to be a topic of discussion on the main sports channels.

"It's obviously way more important for us. I think no one really cares I think if we win. If we were to win Davis Cup, I don't think it would be even talked about on ESPN or our sports channels in the U.S. Maybe we'll win and I'll be pleasantly surprised, but yeah, I don't think so," Fritz said.

"But we all want to win. The importance of Davis Cup for me is basically like you either win the whole thing or you don't. It's not the kind of thing where we make finals and I'm, like, I'm happy we made finals. It's like lose quarterfinals, lose semifinals, lose finals, it's all the same. It's either you win or you don't," Fritz added.

Fritz didn't have it easy in his encounter with Musetti. Having failed to capitalize on three breakpoint opportunities, the 25-year-old soon found himself staring at a 3-5 deficit in the first-set tie-break. The American even faced a couple of set points which he saved to ultimately win the tie-break 10-8.

On being asked what was going through his mind when he was trailing, Fritz emphasized that the balls were too slow and worn out, which made hitting a winner difficult:

"Yeah, I was just thinking about how bad the balls are and how they get crazy worn out and I can't hit a winner. I was just thinking about how I just needed to like kind of like grind, because going for any aggressive shots kind of accomplished nothing. They were just so worn out."

Fritz joined the American team in Malaga after bowing out in the semifinals of the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, last Saturday. Although it has been a long season for the American No. 1, which saw him win three titles, Fritz insisted his fitness hasn't been compromised by his exploits.

"I feel like I only got here I think like a day later than everybody else, but obviously I have played plenty of tennis, so fitness-wise I'm fine. Court speed-wise it's like you can't even really tell. These balls are so incredibly slow, it's really impossible to like miss, and it's also pretty impossible to hit winners," Fritz continued.

Fognini, Bolelli combine to dash Team USA's hopes in the QFs of Davis Cup Finals

Bolelli in action at the Davis Cup Finals 2022

Due to injuries, Italy were without their top two singles players — World No. 15 Jannik Sinner and World No. 16 Matteo Berrettini. It would thus not be wrong to call them the underdogs coming into the quarterfinal tie against USA, which had Fritz and World No. 19 Tiafoe in their ranks.

However, Sonego, ranked 45th, rose to the occasion against Tiafoe in the first rubber of the day. His stunning 6-3, 7-6(7) win, which comes on the back of his 6-4, 6-4 loss to Tiafoe just last month at the Paris Masters, kept Italy's hopes alive.

Fritz then notched up a 7-6(8), 6-3 win over the 23rd-ranked Musetti to level the tie at 1-1.

It was then left to former Australian Open men's doubles champions Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli to do the job against the pairing of Tommy Paul and Jack Sock and they duly delivered. A 6-4, 6-4 win put Italy into their first Davis Cup semifinals since 2014.