Andy Roddick urges Taylor Fritz to skip the clay-court season if injuries persist

Taylor Fritz’s 2026 season has been completely disrupted by injuries.

Before the year even began, he was already dealing with familiar problems, admitting that his old knee and oblique issues had returned.

The knee issue, now identified as tendonitis, appears to be lingering with no clear end in sight. In response, Andy Roddick has put forward a bold idea.

Andy Roddick shares advice for Taylor Fritz

On the latest Q&Andy segment of his Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the former World No. 1 offered his thoughts on the situation.

When asked if skipping the clay-court season might be wise for Fritz, Roddick made his view clear: “If you’re hurt.”

He went on to say: “I mean, if he’s healthy, he wants to go play it. I mean, like, listen, I’ve given Taylor a lot of credit on this show for being just a workhorse. He shows up every week and unlike a lot of people who show up every week, he competes every week.

“Like the guy’s an Uber professional but also if you have a lingering knee issue, you take the time during the parts of the year where you’re probably going to be at least successful.

“Like is it smart to play through an Indian Wells or Miami? Yeah probably your likelihood of playing through that there and getting a result… It didn’t work out for them because there’s no script in tennis but yeah I mean if if I had something bothering me I was more likely to try to heal it during part of this season that was the biggest struggle for me not only style wise but physically on a knee. If you’re not a natural mover you can put more stress on your body that way.

“I think if Taylor’s hurt this is like a no-brainer for him to take off this part of the year.”

Fritz has spoken before about how hard it is for him to step away from competition. But hearing Roddick’s perspective might give him something else to consider.

Taylor Fritz’s clay-court record in 2025

Fritz’s 2025 season didn’t exactly go to plan, especially during the clay swing. After reaching the Round of 16 in Madrid, he lost his opening match in Rome and then tried to build momentum by entering Geneva before Roland Garros.

Even as the top seed in Geneva, he fell early again, and his struggles continued with another first-round exit at the French Open. With few points to defend this time around and lingering health concerns, taking a break from the clay season may not hurt him.

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