He was the first player Taylor Fritz ever beat at the US Open after losing his first six Grand Slam matches

Follow us on Google Discover

Taylor Fritz has built himself a reputation as one of the best players on the ATP Tour and is currently the world number four.

Fritz reached the US Open final last year, becoming the first American man to do so since Andy Roddick in 2006.

However, he was unable to go all the way and win the title, with Jannik Sinner beating Fritz in straight sets.

Following their US Open final, Sinner backed Fritz to reach more major finals in the future.

While Fritz is now one of the bigger contenders for major titles, he has not always been in that position and it took him a while to get his first Grand Slam win.

Taylor Fritz gets his first Grand Slam win against Marcos Baghdatis at the 2017 US Open

Fritz made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2016 Australian Open, when he was just 18-years-old, having lost in the US Open qualifying first round in both 2014 and 2015.

Despite going two sets to one up on seeded compatriot Jack Sock, Fritz lost the match in five sets as his first Grand Slam win was put on hold.

Fritz went onto lose his first six Grand Slam matches, including another five set heartbreak against compatriot Sock.

However, his Grand Slam drought came to an end nearly two years later when Fritz made his second main draw appearance at the 2017 US Open.

Ranked world number 108, Fritz required a wildcard to enter his home major and was drawn to face former top 10 player Marcos Baghdatis.

After six consecutive Grand Slam losses, Fritz made sure that it wasn’t going to happen again and beat his Cypriot opponent, 6-4 6-4 6-3, on Court 10 at Flushing Meadows.

Hitting a cross court backhand passing shot to secure his victory, a teenage Fritz would erupt in celebrations as he secured his place in the second round of a major tournament for the first time.

After the dust had settled, Fritz spoke in his press conference about what this victory meant to him.

“It just felt so good,” said Fritz. “You know, just the emotions of finally winning my first Grand Slam match, I have had to wait a really, really long time for it, and I think this is my seventh try of winning a Grand Slam match.

“As soon as I hit that by him, I told myself to really go for it, and as soon as I hit it, I knew that was going to do it. I don’t know, just the rush of emotions, like, that’s the best part about tennis. The best part about winning is that rush you feel right after you win.”

Fritz would lose his subsequent match to sixth seed Dominic Thiem, but this would only be the start of his Grand Slam journey.

When did Taylor Fritz get his first win at the other Grand Slams?

Despite making his breakthrough at the 2017 US Open, Fritz was unable to qualify for the following major tournament at the Australian Open.

His first win in Melbourne would come a year later, beating British player Cameron Norrie in the first round of the 2019 Australian Open.

Fritz would then beat 30th seed Gael Monfils, before losing in the third round to Roger Federer in his first appearance on Rod Laver Arena.

Wimbledon would be where Fritz would get his second Grand Slam win, beating lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego.

He nearly went onto pull off a big upset in the following round against fourth seed Alexander Zverev, but was unable to finish the job after going two sets to one up.

Roland Garros is still statistically Fritz’s weakest Grand Slam, which makes sense that it was the major tournament that took him the longest to get his first win.

That came on his third appearance in 2019, with Fritz beating Bernard Tomic to complete his set of Grand Slam match wins.

As the 2025 season progresses, the 27-year-old will be eyeing Grand Slam title victories rather just match wins, with Fritz potentially playing doubles at the US Open as well as singles.