As the U.S. Open tennis championships unfold, American player Taylor Fritz finds a familiar sentiment in the tournament's timing: the dreaded return to school. Fritz, who recently secured a first-round victory, reflected on his childhood experiences with the start of the academic year.
"I was always pretty excited to go back to school after the summer, excited for the first week or two, and then, Oh, it sucks now, I don’t really want to do this," Fritz said, drawing a parallel to the demanding final weeks of a Grand Slam tournament. This feeling intensified for Fritz when he began competing in the U.S. Open junior tournaments between 2013 and 2015. He recalled missing the first two weeks of his freshman year of high school due to the competition, resulting in a significant amount of catch-up work.
The timing of the U.S. Open often coincides with the end of summer break for many students. New York City schools are scheduled to begin the following week, while districts in Long Island and New Jersey typically resume classes in early September.
Coco Gauff, another prominent American player, shared a different perspective. Having been homeschooled since third grade, Gauff viewed her attendance at the Open as a break rather than an academic interruption. "I don’t ever recall doing schoolwork while I was here, so I think it was still, like, break for me," Gauff commented after her first-round win. She added with a chuckle, "But yeah, unfortunately, I didn’t have a normal childhood."
While Fritz will not face any academic obligations regardless of how deep he advances in the tournament, his focus remains on a lengthy U.S. Open run. He is among several American men aiming to break a Grand Slam title drought for U.S. men, which has persisted since Andy Roddick's victory in 2003. Fritz emphasized the importance of winning a major title during his career, stating he would be "pretty disappointed" if he did not achieve this goal.
Fritz is set to play Mattia Bellucci of Italy in the second round of the U.S. Open.