Taylor Fritz and Danielle Collins give themselves funny new nicknames

Taylor Fritz is the last American in singles at the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open. American men, in particular, have a love-hate relationship with clay. They struggle to advance in clay court tournaments over their European counterparts who spend more of their formative years training and playing on it.

After winning his quarterfinal match over Francis Cerundo, Taylor took to social media to retweet his accomplishment while giving himself a new nickname "Claylor."

On Friday, we will see how Taylor and his alter-ego Claylor excel on the red surface against Andrey Rublev in the semifinals. Rublev played his best tennis of 2024 against two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on his home soil in the quarterfinals. Fritz must play his A-game from start to finish to get past a red-hot (pun intended) Rublev.

Taylor Fritz is not the only American tennis player embracing a new nickname; Danielle Collins is also

Danielle Collins's 15-match spring winning streak was unbelievable. She won tournaments and matches on three different surfaces, the hard courts of Miami, the green clay of Charleston, and the red clay of Madrid.

Though Collins was eliminated from Madrid by Aryna Sabalenka, fans are still marveling at her accomplishment, particularly during her farewell year on the WTA Tour.

Tennis is all about the numbers and stats, so a glance through history tells us that Collins is the oldest player to have a 15-match winning streak since Serena Williams did it in 2015. Upon hearing this, Collins, 30, wrote: "Who would of thought a granny like me could win 15 matches" She ended her post with laughing emojis and a Granny-faced emoji and hashtags #thisis30 and #30years old.

Collins is far from a granny, but she could feel that way as she looks around and sees players half her age on the court. Tennis is getting younger, but Collins's success this spring proves that smart, good, and streaky tennis is ageless. We hope to see more of her stellar play at Roland Garros and the Olympics. Going out on top is always the best so winning Grand Slams or Olympic medals in 2024 would be the icing on the cake for Collins.

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