From catwalk to court: Taylor Fritz brings high fashion to the Laver Cup
US Open runner-up ready to star for Team World after Milan modeling trip.
BERLIN—Practices, press conferences and photo shoots - the stars of the Laver Cup have many commitments during their preparations for the showpiece tournament in Berlin. But when it comes to warming up in style, they’d all be hard pushed to beat Taylor Fritz’s whirlwind trip to Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday.
Just 24 hours before taking to the Laver Cup’s iconic black court for Open Practice, the world number 7 turned out for an icon of the fashion world - opening the show for BOSS for the German brand’s Spring/Summer 2025 Ready-To-Wear Collection, before flying back to Berlin.
“Yesterday was a really crazy day for me,” Fritz admitted to Tennis Channel after the opening practice at Berlin’s Uber Arena on Thursday.
“I took a flight to Milan yesterday morning. They told me I was opening the show, so I was a little bit nervous. Previously, when I walked, it was following somebody, so it's a bit easier to just, like, follow someone, match this, match the pace. So, yeah, opening it is a lot more. Things could go wrong, but it went pretty well,” he smiled.
“And then I came back here, practiced, and did all this stuff last night, too. So yesterday was a very long day!”
Fritz’s catwalk performance has drawn praise from fashionistas all over. So what’s his secret?
“Well, at the end of the day, it's walking. If you ask me, I'm just trying not to overthink it, you know. The only way I could probably mess up walking is if I'm thinking too much about it!”
But tennis fans shouldn’t be too worried for now, with no career change on the horizon just yet.
“I don't know if it’s something that could replace tennis, but it's something fun, something I enjoy to do, on the side anyway.”
Going for the three-peat
Team World go into this edition of the Laver Cup as the reigning champions, but also the underdogs against a Team Europe that counts four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz and four-time Laver Cup champion Alexander Zverev among their ranks. But Fritz isn’t phased by the comparisons.
“That's what we heard the first time we won (in 2022). The first time we won two years ago, it was all about how they had the best team ever and our team was so much worse. So we'll see."
Whatever the final outcome, one thing is certain: Berlin is John McEnroe’s last time as captain of Team World before he is succeeded by Andre Agassi. And Fritz plans to soak up every last second of his time with one of his heroes..
“It's, it's been amazing just being able to have him, like, on the bench, on the court. He's just such a legend,” he said.
“It's been amazing to be in his presence and have him as, as our captain and just trying to, like, I don't know, just soak up the knowledge and everything he said, and it's been like, yeah, it's just. It's been amazing to be able to spend time with such a tennis legend."