Taylor Fritz has been a consistent performer on the ATP Tour for the better part of the last two years and he is currently ranked No. 6 behind Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Felix-Auger Aliassime.
Despite that, it seems Fritz didn’t warrant enough credentials to feature on the New Year post by Tennis Channel, which included the above-mentioned stars along with No. 7 Alex de Minaur (running), No. 15 Holger Rune (in a green tank top, boxing with a punching bag), Casper Ruud (boxing in redshirt), Stefanos Tsitsipas (stretching on the sand), Stan Wawrinka (in a pink shirt, performing “One Final Push” on the dip bars), Gaël Monfils (hanging from the monkey bars), and Ben Shelton (Doing push-ups).
Happy New Year, tennis fans! 💪🏋️♂️ pic.twitter.com/k7lqjjssuT
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) December 31, 2025
Noting the absence of Fritz in Tennis Channel, fans found it disrespectful.
“I assume Taylor Fritz is not high enough ranked or high profile enough to make it onto this picture with most of his closest peers. Any chance @TennisTV could explain the reason? Or is it just the usual bias?” one fan asked.
“Needs Fritz and his upside down headband,” one fan commented.
“Not including @Taylor_Fritz97 is downright disrespectful…. He finishes #6 and isn’t included??” one fan said.
“Not the point. You dont create a picture with 9 of the top 10, its blatant bias and disrespect,” one fan added.
“someone is mad,” one fan reacted.
“I thought he was this one. Who’s this then? Oh, that being said: Rublev may be not a top ten this year, but i can see Monfils and last time I checked he was lower in ranking that Rublev and all the others,” one fan commented.
Taylor Fritz Among Players With Something to Prove at the 2026 Australian Open
The alleged “disrespect” towards Taylor Fritz might be the perfect motivation for him to accomplish something in 2026. Sports Illustrated lists Taylor Fritz as one of the players with “the most to prove” at the 2026 Australian Open.
Fritz has made deep runs in the Grand Slam tournaments but has often fallen short before he could get the chance to win it all. Like Carlos Alcaraz, even Fritz has never made it past the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Last year, he went down against Gael Monfils in the third round. The 2026 Australian Open could be the perfect way for him to prove himself to the world.
In the lead-up to the Australian Open, Fritz is set to compete in the United Cup for Team USA.
