Young American Taylor Fritz will face top seed Dudi Sela in the final of one of the first Challenger events of 2016.
The eighteen year-old and the Israeli have actually met before, in the qualifying event for the 2015 Indian Wells Masters 1000 event. Incredibly, Fritz was able to win that encounter aged just seventeen 6-3, 6-0. but Fritz was an unknown entity for the likes of Sela back then, and today the American comes into the final with a burgeoning reputation earned not just on the junior circuit, but amongst the professional ranks as well.
Sela had a surprisingly tight encounter with the unseeded Marton Fucsovics of Hungary just to reach the final. After sweeping the first set, Sela dropped the second, ad was forced to work hard in the third in a 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 win. It was though, the only time that Sela has dropped a set in the week, and just the second time he has had to play a tiebreak. He lost just a combined five games in his second-round and quarter-final matches.
Fritz has had a similar path to the finals, also dropping just the one set en route to the title match. His battle with compatriot Alexander Sarkissian in the second-round was his only blemish, resulting in one dropped set. Fritz has since dropped fewer and fewer games from that point, in a straight sets win over Alex Bolt, and a comprehensive dismantling 6-0,6-2 victory over in-form qualifier Andrew Whittington.
The final represents an intriguing match involving a experienced competitor, and a young star with prodigious talent. Both men have had the advantage of having played each other in the past, however one-sided that encounter may have been. My edge goes to Fritz simply because he appears to be in such fine form, his Challenger playing level seems so high, and his confidence will be strong given his previous win over Sela. I am however predicting a much closer affair than their one previous meeting in Indian Wells.
Prediction: Taylor Fritz to win in three sets.
