By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday November 13, 2022
Taylor Fritz powered past Rafael Nadal in Turin, handing the Spaniard his third consecutive loss.
Photo Source: Getty Images
Taylor Fritz has faced Rafael Nadal on some of the biggest stages in tennis in 2022. After defeating the legendary Spaniard in the final at Indian Wells, Fritz lost to Nadal at Wimbledon this year, in an epic.
On Sunday the scene shifted to Turin, the site of the 2022 ATP finals for another showdown.
In their third match of 2022 – and fourth overall – Fritz continued to demonstrate that he can impose his game on Nadal as he broke through for a 7-6(3), 6-1 triumph on his Nitto ATP Finals debut.
The victory over second-ranked Nadal marks Fritz's biggest career win by ranking. He entered Sunday carrying an 0-11 record against the ATP's Top 3.
“It feels great,” Fritz said. “I felt like coming out, first match, especially for my hopes of getting out of the group, it was gonna be really important. I didn't want to put myself in a position where I needed to win out if I wanted to move on.
“I came out and played, played a great match – couldn't be happier."
Fritz brought forth his power game and Nadal never found the answer as he never earned a break point while Fritz earned nine opportunities from his side of the court, and converted two.
It was the American who went on the attack, hitting bigger balls off of both wings, as Nadal was on his back foot and gradually unraveled against the constant pressure, bringing his current losing streak, which dates back to round of 16 loss to Frances Tiafoe at the US Open, to three matches.
Fritz, who clearly benefited from the fast-paced court in Turin, explained why he was able to keep Nadal on the back foot so well on Sunday.
“The court is definitely fast,” he said. “For me, fast is good for my serve and it’s good for my backhand. I feel like different speeds always have parts that help my game and parts that hurt my game.
“On a slower court I have so much more time to kind of load up on a forehand but on a court like this I can lean on my backhand and hit it deep cross to Rafa’s forehead and it makes it a bit tougher for him to step in and crush it. On a slower surface he gets time on the forehand when I go backhand cross and it's probably done for me. So I'd say that's where it helps me the most on the ground against him.”
Nadal hung tough early, saving three break points, one in the third game and two in the seventh game of the opening set, as he eventually forced a tiebreak. But it was Fritz who dominated the tiebreak (7-3), and the ninth-ranked American never looked back from there, as Nadal could only muster one more game.
Fritz won the final five games of the contest, dropping Nadal to 20-17 lifetime at the ATP Finals.
The American hit 22 winners against 15 unforced errors; Nadal hit 16 winners and 28 unforced errors.
Fritz hit 11 forehand winners to seven for Nadal. The Spaniard was uncharacteristically shaky (minus-8 -- 7 winners, 15 unforced errors) on his forehand side today.
36-year-old Nadal has not won a title on indoor hard court since 2005, and he has never triumphed at the ATP Finals, despite reaching the final in 2010 and 2013.
Fritz won 32 of 40 of his first-serve points, and 14 of 18 second-serve points. 25 of his 57 serves went unreturned.