The ATP Eastbourne final is set with the top seed Taylor Fritz facing off against qualifying Max Purcell. Fritz is looking to add to his trophies at Eastbourne as a two-time champion already, with his most recent title coming in 2022. Purcell has had plenty of success on the doubles court but is competing in his first career singles final. Fritz will come in as the clear favorite but there have been many upsets throughout the draw this week giving Purcell some hope to knock him off and carry the momentum into Wimbledon.
ATP Eastbourne Final Prediction
Taylor Fritz vs Max Purcell
Head-to-head: 1-0 Fritz
While they have played just once in the past, Purcell should have some confidence in how close the match was. They faced off in Basel last year on a quick indoor hard court in a match that Fritz won 7-6 7-6. There were four total breaks of serve so it was more back and forth than the scoreline suggests though Fritz won the deciding points to come out on top. Purcell is suited for grass courts as a doubles specialist enjoying the quick tennis, but he faces a tough matchup in Fritz whose game lines up well for grass and has enjoyed plenty of past success on the surface. Fritz has a massive experience advantage playing his 14th career final to Purcell’s first, and his third on grass while Purcell had not made a grass court final at any level until this week.
Fritz will rely on great serve plus one tennis that makes him dangerous on grass courts. He is 5-1 on grass this year and has not lost serve in any of his five wins. Purcell has a good serve as well but has not been as consistent and has been broken in all six of his matches here so he will have to tighten up the serve and step up massively on return. Even with a strong serve from Purcell, Fritz has held his nerve well this week in tiebreaks. Five of his six sets have gone to a breaker and he has won all of them and not faced a single set point in any of the tiebreaks. Fritz’s skill and experience are simply far greater than Purcell’s and this will likely be his most lopsided victory of the tournament to take the title.
Prediction: Fritz in 2
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
