“Big titles are so much more winnable,” Taylor Fritz believes the Tour is ready to take on Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
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Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz had a fantastic outing in the 2022 season. The American beat Rafael Nadal to win the 2022 Indian Wells Masters winning the famed ‘5th Grand Slam in Tennis.’ It was the home tournament for the Californian and he overcame not only Nadal but a painful foot to win his maiden Masters-100 title.
Fritz then won the 2022 Eastbourne International, his second title at the event. He continued his fine form to reach the quarter-finals at the 2022 Wimbledon, his best Grand Slam result to date. He came narrowly close to beating Nadal but the Spaniard staged a great comeback to see off the American despite a ruptured abdomen.
Despite the defeat to Nadal, Fritz believes the current crop on the ATP Tour is ready to challenge for big titles. With Roger Federer retired and both Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the advanced stages of their careers, Fritz has the confidence in him and his colleagues to end the two veteran’s reigns.
“It’s really tough to say. It depends on the conditions for sure. I’ve never played Rafa in clay courts, but we know is tough as it gets. Federer on faster surfaces. Novak on hard court indoors. Those three are the toughest versions you can get. I wouldn’t say relief, but I definitely feel like as stands right now even, the big titles are so much more winnable than they used to be.
“I’m more excited cause I feel like getting these titles aren’t as hard as to get as before. The door is already slowly opening a bit more and you can see it: there have been so many more Masters 1000 winners over the past two years than probably ever. When I was 18, or 20 years old, basically only four or five people could get big events,” said Fritz speaking with Clay Tenis.
Taylor Fritz concedes the Big-3 didn’t make winning majors easy
While Taylor Fritz put confidence in himself and his colleagues, he wasn’t cocky enough to ignore the Big-3‘s dominance. The trio accounted for 63 of the 80 Grand Slams played from the 2004 to 2022 season. Fritz was asked during the interview about the drought of an American male major winner and his reply was quite precise.
“It’s been pretty tough to win Slams in this era (laughs). If there is people putting pressure over me, I don’t really feel that. I have very high expectations for myself, and all the pressure that I feel is always pressure that I’m putting on myself. I’m doing it for me,” said the 25-year-old.
Fritz finished the 2022 season ranked 9th in the world and will look to further move ahead. He achieved his career-high ranking of World No. 8 earlier this season. With better consistency, Fritz can certainly move up the ladder and could well be the candidate to end the USA’s drought of a male Grand Slam winner.
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Sarthak Shitole
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