"When he grabbed my shorts, thought it was all over" - Taylor Fritz jokes about knocking out Frances Tiafoe after he tries to pants him at United cup

Taylor Fritz jokingly conveyed that he would knock out Frances Tiafoe after the American tried to pull his pants down from behind during an interview at the United Cup.

The World No. 9 accompanies Tiafoe at the ongoing tournament in Australia as they represent Team USA. They faced the Czech Republic in their first tie, which took place over two days, with Fritz in action on Day 1 (December 29) and Tiafoe on Day 2 for their respective singles fixtures.

For the final tie, the Japan Open champion paried up with Jessica Pegula for the mixed doubles match. After the encounter, both players engaged in an interview with the press. During their chat, Tiafoe sneaked behind Fritz and tried to pull his pants down. Tennis TV took to social media to share a video of the same on Friday.

"Dude, I will knock you out," said Fritz in the video.

Upon witnessing the funny incident, members of the US team burst into laughter. The interviewer humorously asked Fritz whether he could take his teammate on a fight to which he replied:

"Yeah one punch, he's out."

Later in the day, Fritz followed up on the incident on Twitter as he went on to state that it was not the first time he had been "pantsed" by Tiafoe in public.

"Fun Fact - @FTiafoe has actually pantsed me in public before... when he grabbed my shorts there I thought it was all over," he wrote in his tweet.

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Taylor Fritz beats Jiri Lehecka as USA win their opening fixture at the United Cup

Taylor Fritz in action at the 2023 United Cup

Taylor Fritz beat Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to open the account for Team USA during their match against the Czech Republic at the United Cup.

With the win against Lehecka, Fritz commenced his 2023 season on a positive note. It took just 75 minutes for the American to get the better of the 21-year-old Czech. Fritz remained strong and accurate with his forehand shots and displayed great footwork throughout the encounter.

In other fixtures on Day 1, Madison Keys outclassed Marie Bouzkova, winning the tie in straight sets as she doubled the lead for the USA against the Czechs. On Day 2, Jessica Pegula suffered the only defeat for the team as she failed to rise to the challenge against Petra Kvitova. Frances Tiafoe's opponent Tomas Machac retired midway through the match owing to an ankle injury as USA were assured a victory, having won three of their four matches.

Taylor Fritz and Pegula paired up for the final mixed doubles match. They beat Bouzkova and Lehecka, giving the USA a 4-1 win. They will face Germany in the next fixture.