By Indian Wells is set to conclude with Nikoloz Basilashvilli taking on Cam Norrie. While it’s a bit of a shocking final it’s a bit of fresh air for men’s tennis which has seen the top ranked players dominate for so long. Cam Norrie is playing for a lot and if he wins he enters the conversation for the end of year tournament in Turin. But one of the storylines I want to focus on is the play of Taylor Fritz. He knocked off 3 top 20 players in a row including #3 seed Sascha Zverev. The only player Zverev had lost to on the North American swing this summer was Djokovic in the Semifinal at the US Open. That is, until Taylor Fritz shocked him in Palm Springs. That wasn’t the only major collapse as Dimitrov beat #1 seed Daniil Medvedev after being down a set and 4-1. Dimitrov Battled back and after the match Medvedev said Dimitrov was playing better than anyone he beat at the US Open. The tournament he won. But lets get back to Fritz.
Taylor Fritz has shown an ability to hang in with the best players in the world. Something American players haven’t been able to do(Jenson Brooksby is coming). Fritz knocked off american Brandon Nakashima in the second round, which is a very good win for him. Then he took out Matteo Berretini, the 5th seed. Here he was an underdog but the 31st seeded Fritz won rather easily earning a 6-4 6-3 straight set win.
Then he faced off against the young guy on tour in Jannik sinner. Playing 2 Italians in a row can’t be easy(for no particular reason) but Fritz beat him by the exact same score as he beat Berretini. Maybe losing 6-4, 6-3 to fritz runs in Italy’s blood. After that was the big challenge in Zverev. Zverev is in great form and is playing very confidently. Fritz dropped the first set which had just one break of serve for the German. Fritz then took the second set by playing great and winning the set on a very stressful stab volley.
The 3rd set was an absolute whirlwind. Zverev started strong going out to a 5-2 lead before have a match point at 30-40 on Fritz’s serve. Fritz would get to duece off of a missed backhand slice by Zverev and then would close out the game in deuce. It was 5-3. All Zverev had to do was serve out the match. The only problem was Zverev was serving into the sun. Something that affects all players at different levels. Apparently it’s Zverevs kryptonite. Zverev also has had his troubles with double faults but those seemed to be in his past. Zverev double faulted twice and then dropped in a 76 mile per hour second serve on break point which Fritz jumped on.
They would play out the set in a tiebreak where fritz would start hot starting up 4-0. He was up 6-1 and then Zverev doubled faulted the match away. Na, just kidding but that would have been funny. Zverev would hold his 2 points on his serve and Fritz would serve it out at 6-3 for the win. This was Fritz’s first win over a top 5 player and his 5th over a top 20 player.
Tournaments like this are why Fritz has such a high ceiling. He is an all around player with a big forehand and serve. There is no clear face of American tennis but it feels after each tournament a new player throws their name in the ring. This was Fritz’s turn.
Another American who had a nice tournament was Tommy Paul who Knocked off 4th seed Andrey Rublev in a close 3 setter. Paul doesn’t have the weapons which Fritz does but he grinds. On super super super slow courts as Rublev put it, are exactly where Tommy would thrive. He didn’t disappoint.
With the season winding down Fritz has a few more opportunities to build off of this performance. He will play in Vienna and Paris and probably a couple of other small tournaments. If he is able to play well in those places, there is no telling what he could be capable next year.
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