The spider prank trend is going viral on the internet, and tennis stars like Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, and more were recently spooked by it, leaving Taylor Fritz amused. The trend involves a spider coming out after a slider is pulled. While most of them were scared, some had more calming reactions.
On Sunday, the National Bank Open’s official Instagram page posted a reel involving multiple tennis stars participating in the trend without knowing what would come out once the slider was pulled. The caption suggested that they did after receiving requests from fans.
Andrey Rublev, Casper Rudd, Daniil Medvedev, Gabriel Diallo, Frances Tiafoe, Alexis Galarneau, Alexander Zverev, Alexei Popyrin, Lorenzo Musetti, Denis Shapovalov, Holger Rune, and Ben Shelton participated in this reel.
Trending
Apart from Medvedev and Rublev, almost all fell for the spider prank, with the best reactions coming from Shelton and Tiafoe.
The scary reactions from his fellow American tennis pros and others left Taylor Fritz confused. He asked:
"How did everyone fall for this"
How are American pros Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, and Taylor Fritz doing at the 2025 Canadian Open?
Starting with Frances Tiafoe, the seventh seed survived a scare against qualifier Yosuke Watanuki, rallying from a first-set loss to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(5). In the next round, he defeated Aleksandar Vukic in another tight match to enter the Round of 16. His run came to an end against Alex de Minaur in a three-set thriller, 2-6, 6-4, 4-6.
Ben Shelton, who is the fourth seed, defeated Brandon Nakashima in a tough three-set match, 6‑7(8), 6‑2, 7‑6(5). In the Round of 16, Shelton took down Flavio Cobolli in another three-set thriller to set up a date against de Minaur in the quarterfinal of the Canadian Open. The match is scheduled to be played on Wednesday.
Finally, Taylor Fritz, the second-seeded player, easily defeated hometown Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6‑4, 6‑2. Diallo had a good run-in with Fritz at Wimbledon, though. The duo were involved in a classic five-set thriller at Wimbledon, which ended with Fritz taking down the Canadian, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-3.
Next up in the Round of 16, Fritz was locked in a marathon battle against Jiri Lehecka, where every set was determined by a tiebreaker. Eventually, the American won the match 7‑6(4), 6‑7(5), 7‑6(5). Through to the quarterfinals, Fritz remains in the hunt for his second Masters 1000 title.
After the National Bank Open, all three of these American stars will likely suit up for the next North American hard-court swing at Cincinnati before shoring up in New York for the 2025 US Open.
