Taylor Fritz walked out on court for his first-round match at the Dallas Open surrounded by uncertainty.
As the No. 1 seed, Fritz is a title favorite on paper. But lately he’s been hampered by injury, and after a quiet, straight-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round of the Australian Open, it’s hard to say where his level is at.
But facing down compatriot Marcos Giron, Fritz made his intentions clear from the very first point, when he rocketed an ace down the T: He wasn’t going to make this easy.
It wasn’t Fritz’s best tennis by any means. Despite hitting 47 winners–including a showstopping behind-the-back shot–he also notched 37 unforced errors and couldn’t capitalize on eight of 10 break points he generated. And, five games in, Fritz took a medical timeout for his recurring knee issue. Playing through injury has always been a norm for Fritz, but this hazardous style of play has been catching up to him and could have held him back from the win here. And Giron was fired up, playing steady tennis, and poised to take the potential upset.
Fritz didn’t let him.
As always, Fritz’s biggest strength was his serve. With 71% of his first serves going in, it was tough for Giron to get into most service games. Although he managed to break Fritz twice in the second set, those were outliers, not the norm. Fritz won 72% of service points and hit 21 aces, numbers that kept him afloat when other aspects of his game faltered.
It wasn’t only the serve keeping him in the match; Fritz is known to be one of the hardest workers on the ATP Tour, and it showed in the match as he went for every ball and stayed in every game. In the third set, Fritz played several close return games, and although he didn’t manage to break, he remained a threat to Giron’s serve, and that paid off in the third-set tiebreak. There, Fritz delivered a near-perfect eight points, winning the tiebreak 7-1 to take the match.
Now, the uncertainty for Fritz is if he can get back out there again Wednesday night and defeat Brandon Nakashima, a match that could very well be as close as this one. Fritz’s endurance has held up for now, but whether he can sustain this level remains to be seen.
Main Photo Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
