POWERFUL PUSH AT MEMPHIS OPEN
Fritz shakes off illness to win opener; No. 2 seed next
Despite recent fever, Fritz moves forward.
A week ago, American teenager Taylor Fritz admits he was blistering hot — not on the court, but off — with flu-like symptoms and a 103-degree fever. He was bedridden for a few days
Tuesday at The Racquet Club, the promising 18-year-old from Rancho Santa Fe, California, made a triumphant, and somewhat memorable, return at the Memphis Open, the city’s annual stop on the ATP World Tour.
Relying on his developing power game, which features a powerful serve and punishing forehand, Fritz knocked off American Michael Mmoh, 6-3, 6-4, to move into the second round against No. 2 seed Steve Johnson.
For Fritz, the victory was his second in four career ATP Tour-level matches and his first on U.S. soil (indoor hard courts, to be precise). The 6-foot-4 Fritz, who finished last year as the world’s top-ranked junior, relied on 10 aces and multiple forehand winners to oust Mmoh.
“It feels good,” Fritz said. “I played a really solid match all the way through and I’ve got to be happy with everything.”
Fritz was joined in the second round Tuesday by six others, including No. 7 seed John Millman and No. 8 Damir Dzumhur. Top seed and three-time defending champion Kei Nishikori, the world’s No. 7 player, opens defense of his title at 7:30 tonight against Ryan Harrison.
Fritz said his first match win in the U.S. — his first overall came last year in
England — will always have special significance, perhaps as much for the victory as for overcoming his illness last week.
“I had 103 fever exactly a week ago, but lucky for me I wasn’t by myself,” Fritz said. “I was staying at my girlfriend’s house, which is close to where I train. She helped me recover.
“I took Wednesday and Thursday off, I hit a little bit Friday and came here Saturday. That travel day was pretty rough. I wasn’t feeling too good. I took a 6 o’clock flight in the morning. But I’m feeling better and better each day.”
Fritz certainly seemed as if he had bounced back Tuesday. He opened with a crisp first set that included six aces and no double faults.
In the second set, he got the break of service he needed to go up 3-2. He won the game by hustling to Mmoh’s drop shot and sending back a forehand winner that caught the line.
“I played three really good points and he gave me one double fault in that game,” Fritz said. “But those are the type games you have to come up with at this level to get a break.”
Despite being the same age, Fritz and Mmoh have played only once at any level.
“We never really played the same tournaments for a long time,” Fritz said. “I was always playing a level lower. I used to not be that good. I used to not be at the (top-ranked) level of Michael or Frances (Tiafoe) or those guys.”
Fritz, who won the U.S. Open Juniors title last year, made a rapid ascent in the ATP rankings by capturing two Challenger titles — tournaments one level below the ATP Tour — last year and another last month in Australia.
He also qualified for the Australian Open, where he lost his opening-round match to the world’s 23rdranked player, American Jack Sock.
Fritz said his No. 145 ranking, just two places shy of his career high, has been achieved through his developing overall game and a comfort level approaching the net.
“Before I just let people kind of float the ball back and then I’d restart the point,” he said. “It really comes in handy here because the courts are so slow. You have to come in to finish a lot of points at the net. I’m getting better at it.”
Fritz saved the only break point he faced in the second set to complete the straight-set win. He closed in impressive fashion, firing an ace to get to match point and winning with a blistering forehand.
“You’ve got to treat it like any other game,” he said. “A lot of people have problems with nerves in tight situations, but I try to play it like any other game, any other point, and try to be aggressive and do things I would do in any other situation.”