World No 40 Taylor Fritz suffered from irregular heartbeat during his opening round loss at the ATP 1000 Masters event in Toronto. The 23-year-old lost 7-6(2), 6-3 to Australia’s James Duckworth.
The American, who was once World No 24, later took to Twitter to announce that he was alright despite the scare on court.
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“Hey guys… I’m okay,” he wrote.
“Probably one of the weirdest things I’ve ever experienced… heart was going absolutely crazy for no reason, I only continued cause it was so odd I though it maybe would go away and I really hate quitting even if it was probably the smart thing to do.”
Hey guys…I’m okay 😞 probably one of the weirdest things I’ve ever experienced… heart was going absolutely crazy for no reason, I only continued cause it was so odd I thought it maybe would go away and I really hate quitting even if it was probably the smart thing to do
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) August 9, 2021
This was Fritz’s second consecutive first match exit at a tournament – he earlier lost to Denis Kudla in the Citi Open in Washington DC. These results however followed two consecutive ATP 250 semi-final finishes at Los Cabos and Atlanta.
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Fritz targeted by punters
Following his loss, alleged gamblers who lost money because of the result started hurling abuse towards him on social media.
Fritz took a video of the abuse he got, and posted it on Twitter with a message.
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“And to all the gamblers giving me the typical death threats for not pulling out, I’m really not concerned about your degenerate gambling additions while I’m playing a match,” he wrote.
And to all the gamblers giving me the typical death threats for not pulling out, I’m really not concerned about your degenerate gambling addictions while I’m playing a match 👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/3UrTOlYyCL
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) August 9, 2021
Players have often faced death threats and racial slurs based on their results.
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Last year, former World No 6 Gael Monfils posted on his social media account screenshots of the abuse he received after losing in the Italian Open.
