Taylor Fritz proves his innocence after being accused of giving sweaty handshakes to opponents

Apple's tennis podcast Nothing Major recently discussed a hilarious but sort of gross aspect of the sport. This week, the quartet of American ex-professional presenters - Sam Querry, John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock - turned their attention to the contentious issue of players swapping sweaty handshakes at the net in the aftermath of a match.

Under the title "We need to talk about the wet handshakes in tennis!", the hosts turned to their social media pages to invite further discussion. They asked, "How do we feel about this epidemic?"

Sam Querrey specifically namechecked Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper as culprits:

"Draper's doing it. Fritz is doing it."

The Instagram post attracted a number of responses, including Fritz himself. He replied:

"I do it with my left hand and shake with the right boys - check the tapes. I'm in the clear."

Nothing Major Podcast Instagram

Fritz was referring to his practice of removing his headband with his left hand and shaking hands with his right, thereby avoiding the sweaty exchange the podcasters referred to. Querrey conceded, acknowledging his compatriot's truth:

"Crap...my bad."

A listener also contributed, having checked the evidence and confirmed Fritz's claims:

"@taylor_fritz that is true, left hand and head to the side"

Despite Fritz's intervention, many users agreed with the podcaster's proposition that the sweaty handshake has indeed become epidemic:

"I've always thought it was gross too!" said one user.

"I thought about this soooo many times. They go through their sweat and then right into the handshake," said another.

"We have a lot of fun with it": John Isner on the success of Nothing Major podcast

2023 US Open - Day 4 - Source: Getty

Led by John Isner, the former ATP-ranked World No. 8, and Sam Querrey, No. 11, the Nothing Major podcast started in the middle of 2024 and has now run for 30 episodes.

When the show was still in its infancy, Isner was interviewed by pickleball.com, where he lauded the podcast's early success.

“It’s honestly super cliché when you get four retired athletes from the tennis world starting a podcast. We’ve actually had a decent amount of success so far. We have a lot of fun with it. We may be retired, but we’re still relevant to the game, and getting to know all the players on tour like Taylor Fritz through this podcast has been good. And it’s just a good excuse to get together and talk with the boys.”

Nothing Major show is well-supported by the presenter's ex-colleagues, as evidenced by Frit'z's involvement in this latest sweaty handshake discussion. The podcast is available at all the usual podcast sites, including Apple and Spotify.