When he’s not dominating the professional tennis circuit, Taylor Fritz is happily throwing himself into competitive gaming, most typically into League of Legends Ranked. He’s a well-documented gamer, and when he’s not winning millions of dollars and making history at Wimbledon, he’s trying to force his way up from Emerald into Diamond.
Once upon a time, Taylor Fritz was also an avid Escape from Tarkov player, and in 2020, he spent more time playing the popular extraction shooter than any other game. However, the love for Tarkov fizzled out for Fritz, and it’s unlikely he’ll ever go back.
I caught up with Taylor Fritz as he prepares to play at the DC Open in Washington, chatting to him about all things gaming.
Before you get started, here’s the full interview:
‘I Couldn’t Get Back Into It’
Escape from Tarkov experienced a monumental boom around 2020, skyrocketing on content and streaming platforms and pulling in hundreds of thousands of new players. It was at the end of 2020 that I found Escape from Tarkov, when the game was in the midst of a rampant growth period.
Taylor Fritz, currently ranked fourth in the ATP global standings and a recent semi-finalist at Wimbledon, also fell into Escape from Tarkov in 2020.
The extraction shooter dream ended swiftly enough for the superstar tennis athlete, though. When I caught up with him at the DC Open to talk about League of Legends and his love for gaming, we had an aside talking about Escape from Tarkov:
I played a ton of Tarkov in like, 2020. I was playing that more than any other game in 2020, and then the thing with Tarkov, though, it’s probably the most user-unfriendly game ever, with all the controls and stuff.
There’s no tutorial for it, so you have to just figure it out. There are so many different keybinds and everything in the game. Once I kind of stopped, I actually just… I came back, and I couldn’t remember all of it. It’s very hard for me to stop and get back into a game. I couldn’t just get back into it, so I slowed down on Tarkov.
Now, Taylor busies himself with League of Legends but is ‘big on Rust’, setting aside specific windows to play the game:
I’m still big on Rust. Rust is insanely time-synced. I need to set a specific time aside on a day off to play Rust, which I’ll get the itch to do that every once in a while.
Fritz found his way into the hearts of gamers ahead of Wimbledon when he posted on socials that he’d been challenged to touch grass while playing League of Legends. What better grass for a tennis player to touch than the historic courts at Wimbledon?
Do you agree with Taylor Fritz that Escape from Tarkov is very user-unfriendly? Let me know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming forum.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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