On the Road With American Tennis Star Taylor Fritz, Who Is Elite at Sleeping on Planes

Photograph: Getty Images; Collage: Armando Zaragoza

Few people on earth travel as often as professional athletes. With On the Road, the GQ Sports Travel Questionnaire, they’re weighing in on everything from room service to flying comfortably to their favorite chain restaurants.

By the time you've read this, Taylor Fritz will have about 25,000 air miles under this belt this season. Being one of the world’s best tennis players comes with a travel schedule that would bring angst to the most ambitious of globetrotters.

In partnership with Maestro Dobel, Fritz recently debuted a signature ("Fritzy") spicy margarita at Indian Wells. Before preparing to serve off at the Miami Open, the top American men’s player spoke to GQ about some of the travel hacks he's found useful for a life on the road, the destinations that draw him out of his hotel, and the simple accommodations he needs for a great stay.

For the casual fan, can you describe what the travel schedule is like for one of the world’s best tennis players?

Oh, it’s insane. I think what a lot of people don't understand is that just because a tournament starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday, it doesn't necessarily mean that I get there on Monday, you know? I need to get there days in advance just to start getting ready for the conditions and getting ready for the tournament. A tennis player’s schedule is probably nine to 10 months of the year spent away from home traveling. You’re basically going to a different place every week or two. It's consistently moving.

It's not like you get a full two to three months at home at the end of it, either. It's more like a week here and there in between — like tournaments, and maybe you come home. Yes, you do come home, but it's not for an extended period. It's very short, very erratic, and then it's just week-to-week traveling. It's a lot.

What hacks have you found that have made adjusting to that lifestyle somewhat easier?

Definitely not traveling with too much stuff. I bring one suitcase and then I use my tennis bag kind of like a second suitcase of extra stuff. That just makes it easier because there's so much airport travel involved. It just makes that whole sequence a lot easier when you're not traveling with too much or like two massive suitcases. I kind of know what my essentials are when I'm traveling. I don't really unpack my bag when I go home. I have separate clothes for when I'm training. My suitcase stuff just doesn't really move much. I game a lot in my free time and so I bring a gaming laptop. That's kind of what I do to unwind from always traveling and when I have some time in a hotel room.

So the gaming laptop is one of the essential items. What games are you currently playing?

It changes from time to time but the one I'm playing the most right now is League of Legends.  It’s not tough to forget because it's not really a gaming system—it's a gaming laptop, and also just my laptop. It’s definitely important, because I do need that to relax after a long day. It helps me unwind and kind of just have some me time. That kind of re-motivates me for the next day to go back out and do what I got to do practice-wise and playing-wise for sure.

When it comes to flying, are you someone who can sleep on flights or are you passing time by watching shows?

I'm an amazing sleeper on planes. Honestly, I think it's a really great talent. What I'll do typically is just download some shows, YouTube videos, or something like that. I'll start to watch and then I typically won't last too long. I'll just knock out from watching whatever I'm watching and then I'll be out.

With all the traveling, sleep does seem like a priority, and I know you have a partnership with [mattress tech company] Eight Sleep. Are you able to travel with their product?

For now, it is only for at home. I think we're definitely working on a travel kit, which would be awesome. I fell in love with how the Pod made me feel since the first time I tried Eight Sleep, just about a year ago. It helped my body recover much faster than I have ever experienced during a training block. Not only did it help my body feel more alert and ready to perform, but it also improved my mental game, keeping me more focused and sharp during long training sessions on the court and at the gym. It’s been an incredible tool for my game this past year.

But for the most part, it's just about beating the jet lag when I get to wherever I get to. That's the toughest thing, but the secret to jet lag is to just fight through it the first day, beat it the first day, and then you'll get over it pretty quickly. Most people let it beat them and they go to sleep at like 5pm the first day they land somewhere and then you're just done for like the next week if you do that. Typically, as long as I can beat the jet lag, the quality of sleep isn't too rough because I'm playing or I'm working myself pretty hard during the day to where I'll sleep plenty.

What are some of your favorite places to travel to during the season?

I love just being in the US for the US swings. It feels like home and I feel great. Outside of the US traveling, I'm a big fan of going to Japan, Tokyo is a great stop. I love it there. Stockholm is one of my favorite stops, and there are some other cool ones like Rome, and London. If I had to pick one for sure outside of the US, it’s definitely Tokyo.

Would those also be some of your favorite cities when it comes to food?

It’s easily Tokyo for me, to be honest. I'm a very big stay-in-and-order-in type of person when I'm traveling. I'm typically tired from training all day. I don't get out as much as I should. But, places that I enjoy going out and eating would be Rome. I enjoy going out to eat there and Tokyo. I feel like I make a big effort that week to get out of the room and go do stuff and go to restaurants that I like.

Given some of those stops, what makes for a great hotel room for you?

I travel a lot with my girlfriend. So it's just about having a spacious room, great internet, good AC and that's pretty much all I need. I’m very simple.

Sounds like two sinks in the bathroom would be ideal.

I might need more than two sinks. My girlfriend takes up both sinks.

How did the partnership with Dobel come about?

First off, I enjoy tequila like a lot of people and Dobel's tequila is just very good, incredibly smooth, and it goes great in mixed drinks. I love mixed drinks as well, and that kind of goes into us introducing the Fritzy Spicy Margarita at Indian Wells for me. That was really cool because it was a drink that I enjoy a lot and then I wanted to do something classic that I knew a lot of people would enjoy. My first time working with the brand was at the Cincinnati tournament and I really enjoyed being at a bar, serving some fans, and ever since then, we've kind of formed this partnership. It has been great.

I'm always interested in how people land on their spirit of choice. Is there any backstory to how tequila became your favorite?

I’m not really sure. I never drank a lot when I was younger. When I kind of first started, just socially, I think I just had tequila once. I was like, Oh, wow, this is going down just much nicer than the others. I like the taste of it more than anything else. There were also certain mixed drinks that I found I liked more and they would have tequila in them. That's kind of how it came to be.

Do you still have a bucket-list travel destination?

I've been to Seoul, but I have to preface that with when I was there, I only got out to practice one day. Then I got Covid and was on lockdown for a week and had to leave immediately after. That’s a place that I really want to go to and experience because I was there, but it feels like I wasn't, you know?

Originally Appeared on GQ