Parent Trapped

Young American and ATP #NextGen elite, Taylor Fritz, scored the biggest win of his barely-off-the-ground career, beating No. 7 Marin Cilic (who's been riding the struggle bus as of late) at Indian Wells on Sunday night. I was sound asleep when this happened and missed the post-match chatter on Twitter, but it was certainly abuzz throughout the weekend after 19-year-old Fritz revealed on Friday how his personal life milestones have, or have not, affected his tennis. 

Well, that's one take on parenthood I guess. pic.twitter.com/ikjt8hjluc

— Matt Trollope (@MattyAT) March 11, 2017

Well then. What was supposed to be, I assume, a cute miscellaneous question about being a recent first-time parent turned into how none of it has affected his tennis whatsoever. I won't lie: I initially balked at Fritz's absentee approach to fatherhood. The quotes as a standalone are astonishing, to put it kindly. He lumped in his new baby, a human being for whom he is responsible, in with the "off-court stuff" that his wife takes care of on his behalf. He quotes read as if he is unnaturally detached from his son. 

That said, I do want to caution being overly critical of Taylor, at least for the time being. I'm one of the last people to defend a straight, white, male American tennis player, but Fritz is 19 years old. Nineteen. He is a boy, legality be damned. A boy with very adult responsibilities. Adult responsibilities he's had very little time to prepare for. Let's look at this rough timeline:

1. May 30, 2016: gets engaged to girlfriend, fellow tennis player Racquel Pedraza
2. July 7, 2016(!): Fritz and Pedraza are wed in California
3. January 20, 2017(!!): Fritz and Pedraza welcome newborn son

That's a lot for anyone of any age to handle, let alone for someone who still can't purchase a Bud Light. It's a peculiar sequence of events in such short succession. Also peculiar is the lack of tweets about the new baby from Taylor or Racquel. No one can possibly know what the deal is with the Fritz family, and that's why I'm going to refrain from much comment outside of the hilarious tweet below.

Taylor Fritz raising his child pic.twitter.com/MoGIe40trk

— garbae muguseless (@IdemoAna) January 17, 2017

Even if things are peachy keen in his home life, Fritz is still a tennis professional. Tennis players are almost required to be unbelievably selfish with their time and schedules. Taylor hasn't taken a tournament off since the birth of his son, so maybe he really hasn't had much time to see him. Fritz already banked $121,170 in prize money this year, so the baby will be well-fed at the very least and maybe the money is worth the sacrifice of not being a hands-on dad to their son for Taylor and Racquel.

(Footnote: Fritz lost his third round match today against Malek Jaziri.)