"Taylor Fritz is super dangerous to any single player in the world" – Tommy Paul lauds Indian Wells champion for leading the way for American tennis 

Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul are currently contesting at Indian Wells 2023. Considered two of the most promising tennis players in the current United States squad, the two best friends have been proving their worth with outstanding results in recent times.

After his second-round win against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff (6-3, 6-3) at Indian Wells on Saturday (March 11), Paul was asked about American No. 1 Fritz’s on-tour dominance.

Paul hailed his compatriot for his consistent efforts since early 2022, which has seen him lift four titles thus far (Indian Wells, Eastbourne, Tokyo in 2022 and Delray Beach in 2023) and reach a career-high of World No. 5.

“He's had an unbelievable past year,” the 25-year-old said in his post-match press conference. “He's been the most consistent of the Americans and had the best results of the Americans. That's why he is where he is. That's why he's No. 1 American and that's why he's top 5,” he added.

Paul further highlighted the improvements and adjustments Taylor Fritz has made to his game and the weapons he possesses, which makes him a dominant player.

“He's got a great serve. He's improved so much, to me. I think the thing he's improved the most is probably his movement,” the 2023 Australian Open semifinalist said.

“He has good defense now. I think when he first came on tour he always had the offense but the defense maybe lacked a little bit and now he's moving better and he's getting out of the corners better,” he added.

The World No.19 admitted that facing the Indian Wells defending champion on the court is daunting to the best of players, including himself.

“Yeah, playing him is not always fun. It's constant pressure. He's super dangerous to any single player in the world,” Paul said

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"We want to take that spot from him" – Tommy Paul makes bold admission about American players' goal to conquer Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz in rankings

While Taylor Fritz currently owns the American No. 1 rank, he certainly has huge competition from his highly motivated compatriots who wish to follow in his footsteps in pursuit of glory.

Currently, as many as ten Americans stand inside the World’s Top-50, with Fritz's immediate threats being World No. 16 Frances Tiafoe, World No. 19 Tommy Paul and World No. 26 Sebastian Korda.

In his post-match press conference, Paul, who recently defeated Fritz in the Mexican Open semifinals, confessed that the players were honed in on dethroning the World No. 5.

“Obviously, you know, like me, Frances, Sebi, all the Americans, we want to be where he's at and we want to take that spot from him. That's what we want. That's where we want to be,” he said.

While Paul and Fritz failed to score a win in the men's doubles category at Indian Wells 2023, the latter has managed to keep himself alive in his singles title defense at the tournament. He booked a spot in the third round with success over countryman Ben Shelton (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) and will now face off against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.

Meanwhile, Paul is through to the third round of Indian Wells as well, where he will face ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz.