Taylor Fritz doesn't need to tell you he's one of the best tennis players alive. His ranking at No. 8 in the world, his Olympic bronze medal, and his U.S. Open finalist status speak for themselves. What you might not expect is that he's equally dominant at Mario Tennis Fever on the Nintendo Switch 2.
I learned this the hard way during four consecutive matches that left my gaming pride in tatters. Fritz, a towering 6'5" presence who carries himself with the ease of someone accustomed to winning, methodically dismantled me across the court. In our first two games, he relied heavily on Boo—a character he'd warned me about beforehand. "The reason why I play Boo is because he's got some nasty spin," he said. He wasn't exaggerating.
My one moment of redemption came in game three. After switching to Luma, I managed to race out to a 5-0 lead against Fritz's Bowser. He clawed back to tie it at 5-5, but a well-timed body shot secured my only victory of the afternoon. It felt like winning Wimbledon. Game four brought me crashing back to earth when I switched to Baby Bowser and Fritz demolished me 7-0.
Real Tennis Skills Translate to the Virtual Court
The question nagging at me afterward was obvious: does excelling at real tennis give someone an unfair advantage in a video game version of the sport? Fritz's answer was measured but revealing.
"Maybe a little bit," he said. "A lot of the game is moving to the ball once you see it and understanding like I do with the boost slices. It catches people off guard because they just want to follow the ball. It's like real tennis like that. I'll see it and I'll know where to actually move to, to hit it. And you work at a position, you come to the net. There's definitely some tennis nuances there."
He elaborated on his Mario Tennis strategy, noting that Boo and Bowser are his preferred characters, with the Bullet Bill racket as his go-to equipment. When I asked if many people attempt to challenge him just to claim bragging rights over a professional athlete—in any competition—he laughed. "No one can really beat me in this one either," he said flatly.
According to Fritz, Mario Tennis Fever stands apart from other tennis video games. "There are other tennis titles, obviously, but as far as tennis games go for me, it's always been the most enjoyable playing Mario Tennis."
His attachment to the franchise runs deep. The first video game Fritz remembers playing was Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64, a memory he cherishes. "I remember just being in the family room and we would have four controllers and we would play doubles, two-versus-two, and it was a lot of fun," he said. Beyond Mario Tennis, his gaming tastes lean toward competitive experiences with nostalgic appeal—Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy among them.
With Mario Tennis Fever offering online tournament brackets structured like professional tennis draws, Fritz has found ways to seek competitive matches beyond his immediate circle, where potential challengers are admittedly scarce. The game's GameChat feature also opens doors for remote matches with friends.
My decisive losses to Fritz revealed something worth noting: the gap between casual gaming competence and true mastery narrows considerably when someone's brain is wired to understand court positioning, shot selection, and spin mechanics at the highest level. He wasn't flashy or condescending about it. He simply moved to where the ball would be, not where it was, and executed his shots with the precision you'd expect from an athlete of his caliber.
If you're planning to test your skills online, consider yourself warned. The next player who absolutely demolishes you might not just be some regular gamer. They could be someone who's faced down Novak Djokovic and won.
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