Taylor Fritz taken aback after 'catching strays' about math IQ, hits back with hilarious response

Taylor Fritz was surprised after 'catching strays' from a recreational tennis player and content creator, who playfully poked fun at the American ATP star's math IQ. Fritz subsequently issued an amusing response to the swipe taken at him by the content creator.

On Saturday, August 16, the recreational tennis player and content creator who goes by the alias 'edgeriplaystennis' on Instagram shared a video. In it, he went on a rant about professional players acting snobbish when it comes to 'tennis backpacks', saying:

"So I recently saw a video of a bunch of professional tennis players with sponsorships and lots of money roasting those of us who have tennis backpacks. Pardon me for having a full-time job and wanting to have a change of clothes and my rackets also in my work bag instead of bringing a six-racket Babolat bag into the office. This is very practical. I can put my work stuff in here. I can put my rackets in here."

Next, 'edgeriplaystennis' hit out at Taylor Fritz, bringing up the ATP No. 4's answer to a math question he was asked in the aftermath of the afterparty of this year's ESPYs. Fritz was asked what 50 $20 bills amount to. At the time, the 2024 US Open runner-up was quite inebriated, and after struggling quite a bit with his mental math, Fritz answered, "$10,000", whereas the accurate answer would have been $1,000.

"Taylor Fritz, you can't even do math. You can't roast us, okay? I mean these are tennis players. Look at them. Recreational tennis community is vibrant and strong, and we do not deserve to be disrespected for having tennis backpacks. This is a great tennis backpack, okay? I don't want you all to bad mouth us again or I'm going to start roasting each of you one at a time," the recreational tennis player added.

Upon taking notice of the video, Fritz hilariously wondered what he had done wrong to offend the content creator. The American also claimed that he had never insulted tennis backpacks or people who use them.

"Yo why am I catching strays here I didn’t say anything bad about the backpack 😂," Fritz wrote in the comments.

Fritz's comment on the rant uploaded by 'edgeriplaystennis' on Instagram (Source: Instagram/edgeriplaystennis)

Taylor Fritz's compatriot and ATP rival Ben Shelton bantered with each other over former's math fail

Taylor Fritz (left) and Ben Shelton (right) at the 2024 Laver Cup (Source: Getty)

Following Taylor Fritz's Round of 32 win at this year's Mubadala Citi DC Open, the American took to Instagram and shared a post to celebrate his victory, captioning it:

"Capital gainzzz"

Fellow ATP star Ben Shelton entered the comments and asked Fritz the same question that he had failed to answer in a drunken state after his ESPYs attendance. Replying to Shelton, Fritz wrote:

"Shutup I only deal in 100's"

Later, at a press conference, Fritz admitted to being drunk when he was asked the math question after attending the ESPYs. Subsequently, at another presser at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, Shelton said he would stop teasing his compatriot about the fail.

"I probably gave Fritz too much of a hard time. He said there were drinks involved. I'm going to give him a little bit of a break on that," Shelton said.

Both Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton were recently in action in the 2025 US Open's revamped mixed doubles event. Fritz, partnering Elena Rybakina, was knocked out in the first round by eventual champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani. Meanwhile, Shelton, partnering Taylor Townsend, fell in the second round. Both American ATP stars are now preparing for their singles campaigns at the hardcourt Major.