Tennis Pro Taylor Fritz Says Having a Son at 19 Taught Him Not to Care About Other's Opinions

etonline.com:

for his cover story and told the magazine what he learned from having his son, Jordan, 6, at 19 years old with his now ex-wife, Raquel Pedraza.«I think [having a kid] taught me a lot of lessons about time management.… It also taught me to not care so much about other people's opinions.… I was always very concerned about how my career would be affected, the things people were saying, and things of that nature,» Fritz, 24, told the publication. «I learned one, not to care, and two, just to handle my business and be as productive as possible.

I mean, I do have more things to manage now, and I definitely had to grow up fast, but it was always going to be like that anyway.

I was traveling the world when I was 17 to play tennis, so regardless of my own personal things, you have to grow up pretty fast in this sport anyway,» he added.The tennis player continued to explain how his personal life was impacted by his dedication to the sport. «I worked really hard for a really long time for this.

And, for a really long time, I really have given up a normal life — though I probably held on to [normalcy] longer than most other players did.… I made the decision that I was going to dedicate everything I had to tennis,» he noted.Fritz's current schedule: «Now I’m traveling 10 months out of the year.