From Geneva to Los Angeles to Chengdu in 36 Hours: John Isner shared crazy story about Taylor Fritz’s commitment towards tennis

Former American player John Isner has shared an interesting incident involving his countryman Taylor Fritz. The 27-year-old is currently regarded as the best American men’s player in professional tennis in the singles category.

Fritz is currently involved in the Asian swing, where he is set to feature in a number of events in the Asian continent. Former American player Isner shared an interesting story about Fritz’s commitment, which involved an event in the Asian swing. Isner, while discussing a recent episode of the Nothing Major Podcast, shared an interesting story about how Fritz forgot his passport with a Chinese visa at home, roughly 36 hours before his first match at the Chengdu Open.

Isner revealed that Fritz only found out about it once he arrived at the airport in Geneva after participating in the Laver Cup. From there on, Isner stated that Fritz, instead of withdrawing from the competition, decided to take as many as five flights to go back home to Los Angeles and arrive back in Chengdu.

“Well, we were in the Geneva airport after the Lever Cup, all on the same trip,” said Isner. “Geneva, Beijing, and then on to Chengdu. And mind you, this is Monday. So Chengdu is literally already starting. And we get to the airport, we're checking in, and he goes, oh, he had the wrong passport. His passport with his Chinese visa was in Los Angeles. And mind you, he's got to play a match in 36 hours. So I'm sitting there at the airport with him, I'm like, I'm kind of chuckling. I'm like, bit of tough luck, go back to LA, enjoy home, and I'll see you in Tokyo, whatever he was playing. He's like, no, no, I'm going to play Chengdu. And I'm thinking, I'm like, how are you going to do that? So what he did, he went from Geneva, booked a new flight, Geneva, Paris, right then and there. Then he went Paris, Los Angeles, lands at LAX, gets in an Uber, drives to his house in an Uber, has the Uber wait for him, runs up to his house, gets his right passport with his Chinese visa, goes back to LAX, then flies LAX, Tokyo, Chengdu.”

Peak commitment

Isner then stated that he saw Fritz all tired at the breakfast after landing back but he still managed to give his first round’s opponent Alexander Bublik a tough run for his money in the match where he came second best but only after losing the match in three sets where the deciding set’s score was 7-5. Isner went on to call Fritz the only person in the world who would do something like that and still managed to give his all on the court.

“I'm eating breakfast. I see him coming in, like stumble into the breakfast,” said Isner. “He eats some food and he goes out and plays a match four hours later against Bublik. He lost, but he lost 7-5 in the third. There's only one person in the world that would do that in order to still compete and it was Taylor Fritz. I also think you're just crazy as hell because who would do that? There's only one person in the world that would do that and it's Taylor Fritz. He just laces him up no matter what. Doesn't matter.”

Fritz is currently taking part in the Japan Open, where he has cemented his spot in the quarterfinal after beating Portugal’s Nuno Borges in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-6. His next opponent will be fellow countryman Sebastian Korda, who cemented his spot in the last eight after beating Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4.

It will be the fourth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous three fixtures, Fritz had a slight advantage with two wins and one defeat. Their most recent meeting came in the round of 32 of the Canada Open last year, where Korda came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6.