tennisnet.com ATP

Detention win: Taylor Fritz wins Delray Beach Open

He started like a fire brigade, the organizers were already preparing the award ceremony, but then things got tight again: Taylor Fritz won his home game at the Delray Beach Open. He has the upper hand against Miomir Kecmanovic with 6;0, 5;7 and 6:2. Fritz could have flipped the switch in time for the next big task.

by Robin Huiber
last edit: Feb 19, 2023, 11:21 pm

© Getty Images

Taylor Fritz has been a big promise in US tennis since he was a teenager. But especially at the beginning of his career, he had the reputation of being a pretty player without the necessary bite for big victories. In the meantime Fritz seems to have discarded this picture. Last year his victory at the Masters in Indian Wells, in the final against Rafael Nadal, was already an exclamation mark. Now the Californian was able to win another event in his home country. At the Delray Beach Open, the current number 7 in the world triumphed in the final against Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 5-7 and 6-2.

Mentally, too, Fritz now seems stronger. For a long time it looked like a walk against the Serbs in the final. 6:0 the first set. And in the second set he already had match point at 5:4. The strong Kecmanovic comes back again. Even wins the second set 7:5. But Fritz doesn't let that throw him off track (anymore). In the third set he shows his aggressive baseline game again and is the dominant player on the pitch. 6:2 he wins the third set.

Fritz may have shifted the lever for the next Masters tournaments in time. The start of the year was not ideal. At the Australian Open, it was already over in the second round against Alexei Poprin. Now the tournament victory in Florida. The new Taylor Fritz finally seems ready for 2023.

by Robin Huiber

Sunday
Feb 19, 2023, 11:25 pm
last edit: Feb 19, 2023, 11:21 pm