It will be an all-American battle to decide the 2022 ATP Tokyo Open with Frances Tiafoe set to take on his compatriot Taylor Fritz in the Japanese capital. Both men have played some fine tennis so far this week and both will believe they have the quality to win this match. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our prediction for the final, but who will come out on top?
ATP Tokyo Final Prediction
Frances Tiafoe vs Taylor Fritz
Head-to-head: Fritz 4-1 Tiafoe
It has been an excellent few weeks for Tiafoe. The American came agonisingly close to reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since 2019 (and second overall) at Wimbledon, only to fall to David Goffin in five sets in the fourth round. But he bounced back from that disappointment in excellent fashion at the US Open, where he delighted the New York crowds with a run to the semifinals that included a superb four-set win over Rafael Nadal.
He returned to action at the Laver Cup, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas to clinch Team World’s first title and he has maintained his fine form so far in Tokyo. He opened his account for the week with a composed 6-3 6-4 win over Yasutaka Uchiyama and backed that up beating Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1 7-6. That set up a quarterfinal clash with Miomir Kecmanovic that he won at a canter, losing only four games. His semifinal against Kwon Soon-woo was more testing, but he came through it a 6-2 0-6 6-4 winner.
Fritz, meanwhile, did reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but had rather lost his way since. This week, however, he has looked sharp for the most part. He was not at his best in his opener, but hung tough to beat James Duckworth 6-2 6-7 6-1. It was a similar story in the second round as he struggled past Hiroki Moriya in three. He then received a walkover in the quarterfinals when Nick Kyrgios withdrew, before beating Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-7 6-3 to reach the final.
It is unquestionably Tiafoe who has been playing the better tennis this week, but there are reasons for Fritz to feel confident heading into this final, not least the fact that he has won his last four matches against Tiafoe. That includes two matches earlier this year, at the Australian Open and in Montreal. That suggests that this is a problem matchup for Tiafoe. But he was competitive in Montreal and, in the form he is in right now, should be even more than that this time around.
Prediction: Tiafoe in 3
Main photo:
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