"Taylor Fritz most plain vanilla player ever"; "An absolute abomination to the USA" - Fans react to American's 'inexcusable' Australian Open loss

Fans expressed disappointment and frustration following Taylor Fritz's surprising loss at the Australian Open against 38-year-old Gael Monfils. The World No. 4 cruised past his first two opponents before Monfils got the better of him in the third round.

On Saturday, January 18, Fritz was expected to have another comfortable outing in Melbourne after losing just five games in the first round and three games in the second round.

He won the first set against Monfils in their third-round encounter but could not capitalize on the momentum as the Frenchman beat him 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 6-4. This was the World No. 4's worst Grand Slam performance since his second-round exit at Wimbledon 2023.

Notably, Fritz is the ATP's top-ranked American and is coming off a strong 2024 season, highlighted by reaching the finals of both the US Open and the ATP Finals. However, his early exit and the nature of the loss left fans deeply dissatisfied.

"Fritz with inexcusable nonsense shots. Deserved to lose. Monfils played amazing but that last set just made me understand it," one fan wrote.

"Fritz definitely lost gen now, he’ll win a couple of masters but the big one is unlikely," another fan wrote.

"Fritz the most plain vanilla player ever. Nothing special about him," a third fan wrote.

Many American tennis supporters were disheartened.

"That Taylor Fritz loss will be a top 5 loss for the next decade. You’re playing tennis at the HIGHEST level in your career and get dog walked by a 38 year old who hasn’t been playing his best tennis. I mean just an absolute abomination to the USA at this point," one fan wrote.

"Bad loss for Fritz, but ESPECIALLY for the American commentators who were forced to hype him up as the American man to potentially break their post-Roddick Slam drought," another fan wrote.

"Difficult to explain how deflating the Pegula loss yesterday and the Fritz loss today feel for an American tennis fan, especially after they both made the final in New York," yet another fan wrote.

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Taylor Fritz credits Gael Monfils for a "good match" after their Australian Open encounter

Taylor Fritz (L) and Gael Monfils at the 2025 Australian Open (Image Source: Getty)

During his post-match press conference, Taylor Fritz admitted that he did not do much wrong during his upset against Gael Monfils in the third round of the Australian Open. The American felt that his 38-year-old opponent outclassed him.

"It [was] just a really good match from him," Fritz said. "He served incredibly, mixed up his spots really well, I never could get a read on where he was going to serve on a big point."

Fritz reached the quarterfinal in Melbourne last year but his early loss will not affect his World No. 4 ranking unless Alex de Minaur wins the title. The American now has six wins out of eight matches so far in the 2024 season. Before the Melbourne Major, the 27-year-old helped Team USA win the United Cup.

Meanwhile, Monfils, who recently became the oldest ATP tour-level champion in over 50 years, will play against Ben Shelton in the fourth round. The two will lock horns for the very first time, with the winner taking on either qualifier Learner Tien or Lorenzo Sonego in the Australian Open quarterfinals.