By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday April 13, 2023
Now that he’s a card-carrying member of the Top 10, American Taylor Fritz hopes to stay there. To do that, the California native will need to step out of his comfort zone and up his performance on the red clay.
So far, so good, in 2023.
Fritz made his return to the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals on Thursday, defeating rising Czech Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to set a last eight clash with two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Fritz has not won a match against a Top 20 player on clay since 2018, and he has lost his last six decisions against the Top 20, all in straight sets. Facing the World No.3 on clay will give Fritz one of the toughest tests he could ask for.
Clay presents a good opportunity for the American to build his ranking. He only played at Monte-Carlo and Roland-Garros last year, and will only defend 225 points between now and the end of Roland-Garros.
Now that he’s emerged as a top talent on tour, here is a chance for him to take the next step on clay. Do we expect him to be racking up Masters titles and playing the final at Roland-Garros? Probably not, but it will be important for Fritz to play well on clay in order to keep the momentum of his season pointed in the right direction.
Win or lose on Friday against Tsitsipas, he can set the tone of his clay season by pushing the Greek.
Today he took care of business against the dangerous 21-year-old, Jiri Lehecka, coming from a set down to improve to 27-24 lifetime on clay.
“It was really tough, I felt like he was playing well. It was windy and he was still ripping the ball. I wasn’t really sure what to do, I just tried to hang in there with my serve and I was lucky enough to get a break in the second and go from there.”
Fritz says that the secret to success on clay is much the same as the secret to success on hard. Serve well, to spots, and dictate.
“It’s not at all specific to clay but I’m serving pretty well,” he said. “If you’re not hitting your spots really well on clay then more serves come back, so you have to serve even better if you want to continue to get free points.”
Unlike Daniil Medvedev, who doesn’t feel his baseline game works well on clay, Fritz seems confident that he doesn’t need to change too much to be successful.
“I’m returning alright and I’m hitting some heavier, higher forehands than normal, but there’s still a long way to go,” he said.
O-3 vs Tsitsipas, with a caveat
On Thursday Tsitsipas continued his phenomenal run at Monte-Carlo, stretching his Monte-Carlos winning streak to 11 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Nicolas Jarry.
Tsitsipas owns the 3-0 edge over Fritz, with all three of their meetings coming on hard courts, but the American points out that he won a big victory over Tsitsipas on clay in the juniors. He defeated the Greek 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the Roland-Garros boys’ singles tournament, and went on to play the final, losing to American Tommy Paul.
"That's a long time ago, but I have to take the wins over him when I can. It's going to be exciting - I'm pumped to play him," he says. “I’m excited to see what it’s like playing the two-time defending champion on the clay.”
So are we, Taylor. So are we…