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Taylor Fritz expressed his joy at accomplishing a major milestone as he reached a new career-high ranking of World No. 7. This achievement will make him the highest-ranked American male tennis player since September 19, 2011, when Mardy Fish was No. 7 in the ATP rankings.
The American has enjoyed a steady climb up the rankings since his breakthrough season in 2022.
Following a win against Rafael Nadal to clinch his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, Fritz won an ATP 500 in Tokyo and a title at Eastbourne. He achieved his best-ever showing at a Grand Slam with a quarter-final finish at Wimbledon and broke into the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
Taylor Fritz's coach and former tennis player Michael Russell shared his appreciation for the milestone on social media. In an Instagram post, he outlined Fritz's journey from World No. 30 to World No. 7 over the time the pair have worked together.
"Career high #7 this week. From #30 to #7 in 15 months of working together full time…" Russell captioned the post.
Taylor Fritz shared Michael Russell's post on his Instagram story and checked off the new achievement.
During a recent interview with the ATP tour, the American opened up about the pressures that come with being a professional tennis player. He spoke about how he traded a normal life for a career in tennis.
Fritz added that despite the stress that came with losing matches, he knew that the sacrifices he made were worth it to be where he is currently.
"I've given my whole life to the sport. Parties, high school, none of that, college didn't happen. I definitely traded a normal life," Fritz said. "A lot of people around me know that I can be in a pretty bad place if it's not going well for me."
"It's not easy, we play a sport where every single week, everyone loses but one person," he added. "So you gotta get used to losing. But I love what we do and it's definitely worth all the sacrifice to be where I am right now."
Taylor Fritz will face Emilio Gomez in his first match at the Delray Beach Open
Following a disappointing second-round loss to Alexei Popyrin, Fritz was ousted from the 2023 Australian Open.
He subsequently took part in the Dallas Open. The American No. 1 batted past Jack Sock and Marcos Giron to reach the semi-finals of the event. He lost the match 7-6 (3), 5-7, 4-6 to eventual champion Yibing Wu.
Taylor Fritz will now face Emilio Gomez in his first match at the Delray Beach Open. Gomez defeated Wu Tung-lin in the Round of 32 to book his spot against the American. The pair have never faced each other on the ATP tour before.
Taylor Fritz is the top seed at the Delray Beach Open, which also features Tommy Paul, Denis Shapovalov, J.J. Wolf and Ben Shelton among others.
