Tennis star Taylor Fritz has now revealed he is a “massive fan” of a Manchester United and Premier League legend.
Fritz gearing up for the Laver Cup
The eighth edition of the Laver Cup is set to get underway at San Francisco’s Chase Center this Friday, with Team Europe looking to retain their title, after defeating Team World in a thrilling encounter on home soil in Berlin last year.
Team Europe seemingly have a good chance of getting a sixth Laver Cup victory on the board, given that ATP World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz will be heading out to the USA, alongside Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli.
However, it must be noted that Team World also have a strong line-up, which features Reilly Opelka, Joao Fonseca, Alex Michelsen, Francisco Cerundolo, Alex de Minaur and Fritz.
With a current ATP ranking of No.4, the American is undoubtedly the stand-out player for Team World, and he heads into the competition off the back of a relatively strong showing in the most recent singles Grand Slam, reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open.
The 27-year-old is yet to win a Grand Slam, coming closest in the 2024 edition of the US Open, when he was defeated by Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the final.
Not only is the 2024 US Open finalist one of the best tennis players in the world, but he is also a big football fan, and he has previously named Manchester United and Premier League legend Cristiano Ronaldo as one of his inspirations.
Fritz said: “I’m a massive fan of Ronaldo. Like, forever. Not just from when he’s at United now, when he was at United earlier in his career. I’m such a big Ronaldo fan because I love his confidence. A lot of people call him cocky or whatever, but I think I’m very much the same way and I think that you need to be very confident and believe in yourself.
“I love his work ethic as well; he’s such an incredibly hard worker, so I look up to him a lot and so I’ve always just been a fan of United.”
Fritz right to take inspiration from Ronaldo
As pointed out by the tennis star, Ronaldo has faced accusations of arrogance throughout his career, but his mentality has led to great success, winning five Ballon d’Ors, three Premier League titles and five Champions Leagues.
The 40-year-old is also way out in front as the top goalscorer in Champions League history, scoring almost double the amount of Raul, who is fifth on the all-time list.
Player
All-time Champions League goals
Cristiano Ronaldo
141
Lionel Messi
129
Robert Lewandowski
105
Karim Benzema
90
Raul
71
The Portuguese forward is showing no signs of slowing down, scoring 95 goals in 109 games for Al-Nassr, and Fritz will be well-positioned to lead Team World to Laver Cup glory if he is able to replicate Ronaldo’s mentality.