"That ain't me" - Taylor Fritz pokes fun at his scintillating Madrid Open performance and emergence of "Claylor" as he reaches SF for first time

Taylor Fritz joked about his performance in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Madrid Open, calling his claycourt persona "Claylor'.

Fritz, who kicked off his European claycourt season with a straight-set defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters, found his footing on the red dirt at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships. He has carried that form into the 2024 Madrid Open.

The 12th-seed American received a bye in the first round and began his run with a straight-set win against Luciano Darderi in the second round. He followed it up with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sebastian Baez. The 26-year-old also passed the Hubert Hurkacz test in the fourth round without dropping a set.

The World No. 13 then faced an in-form Francisco Cerundolo in the quarterfinal. He defeated the Argentine 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals in Madrid for the first time in his career. In the last-four clash, Fritz will face Andrey Rublev, who eliminated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in an explosive final-eight match.

Fritz also picked up his 250th win on the ATP Tour in the process. The Tennis TV page on X (formerly Twitter) posted a clip of the American winning the match and mentioned the American's new career milestone.

Taylor Fritz responded to the tweet by joking that the payer who was winning in Madrid wasn't him but 'Claylor', a play on his name.

"That ain’t me… that’s Claylor"

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A look into the head-to-head between Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev and Tayor Fritz

Taylor Fritz, who will be looking for his first title on clay and second Masters 1000 title, will face Andrey Rublev, an established clay court player, also aiming for his second Masters 1000 title.

This will be the duo's ninth meeting, with the American leading their head-to-head 5-3. Their most recent meeting came at the 2023 Laver Cup where Fritz defeated Rublev 6-2, 7-6(3). It also marks their sixth meeting at a Masters 1000 tournament and the American No. 1 leads this head-to-head 4-1.

While Taylor Fritz defeated Rublev in the semifinals of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters and went on to clinch his first Masters 1000 title, the World No. 8 defeated the American in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters last year and went to win his first Masters 1000 title.

The winner of this match will await the winner of the other semifinal between Felix Auger-Aliassime and the quarterfinal winner of Daniil Medvedev and Jiri Lehecka in the final.