Taylor Fritz has dealt a blow to Rafael Nadal’s hopes of claiming his maiden ATP Finals title after defeating the Spaniard in their opening group match in Turin on Sunday.
The world No.9 squeezed his way through the first set before easing to a shock 7-6(5), 6-1, win over the highest-ranked player in the tournament. It is the first time in Fritz’s career that he has defeated a player currently ranked in the world’s top 3 after failing to do so on 11 previous occasions. Against Nadal, he won 80% of his first service points and produced 16 winners.
“It feels great. I felt that coming out to play my first match, especially for my hopes of getting out of the group, it (playing Nadal) was going to be really important,” Fritz told TennisTV.
“I came out, played a great match and I couldn’t be happier.”
The showdown in Turin was the third instalment of the two players’ rivalry this season. Fritz defeated the king of clay back in March in the final of the BNP Paribas Open to claim his first Masters 1000 title. A few months later at Wimbledon, Nadal avenged that defeat by prevailing over the American in a marathon five-set quarter-final encounter.
Their latest clash was once again a fight with both men matching each other game-by-game throughout the opener. Fritz, who was the last player to qualify for the ATP Finals, constantly applied pressure onto the Nadal serve. In the third and seventh games, he had break point opportunities but was unable to capitalize due to some stern resistance from his opponent.
Fritz managed to clinch the one-set lead with the help of a couple of costly unforced errors from the former world No.1 at the start of the tiebreaker. Nadal produced his first double fault of the match before going on to make a backhand error on his next point. Meanwhile, a pumped-up Fritz surged to a 6-3 lead with the help of hitting deep towards the baseline. He prevailed on his first set point with a blistering forehand winner that painted the line.
Fritz, who had only won four out of nine meetings against top 10 players in 2022 before this week, continued to wear down the 22-time Grand Slam champion who produced a lacklustre service game that enabled him to break early on in the second frame. Nadal continued to be tamed by his inspired younger opponent, prompting worried looks from his entourage in the crowd.
The underdog moved to a game from victory after breaking Nadal once again following a marathon service game that lasted 12 minutes. Fritz then closed out the match following yet another error from the Spaniard, his 22nd of the match.
“The court is definitely fast. For me, fast is good for my serve and backhand,” Fritz commented on the conditions in Turin. “I feel that different speeds always have parts that help my game and parts that hurt my fame. On a slower court, I have so much time to load up on a forehand but on a court like this I can hit a deep cross to Rafa’s forehand and it makes it a bit harder for him to step in and crush it. That is where it helps me on the ground against him.”
As a result of his victory, Fritz tops the Green Group following the first round of matches. Currently in second place is Casper Ruud who defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime earlier in the week. All four players are still in with a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
“How the court is playing, it is going to come down to serve and return. The way I served and played today, I look to do that again.” Fritz commented on his two upcoming matches.
