Andy Roddick makes bold Wimbledon prediction for Taylor Fritz after his win over Alexander Zverev in Stuttgart

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Taylor Fritz had endured a tough few months on the ATP Tour but bounced back with a big win in Stuttgart.

Some would argue Fritz was the second-best player in the men’s game behind Jannik Sinner during the latter stages of the 2024 season, when he reached the final of the US Open and ATP Finals.

However, he was unable to carry that form through to the new year, as Fritz suffered an early exit in Melbourne, at the hands of Gael Monfils.

Another disappointing Grand Slam defeat followed in Paris, when Fritz lost to Daniel Altmaier in the first round of the French Open.

Bouncing back on the grass, Fritz beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the Stuttgart Open, clinching his ninth ATP title.

Looking ahead to Wimbledon, Fritz’s fellow American, Andy Roddick, made a bold claim about the 27-year-old’s chances.

Andy Roddick thinks Taylor Fritz could ‘easily’ reach the 2025 Wimbledon final

During the latest episode of Served with Andy Roddick, former world number one Roddick previewed Fritz’s Wimbledon chances.

“[Taylor] Fritz, going into Wimbledon as the number four seed is a lot different than Taylor Fritz going into the French Open as the number four seed, where we’re just guessing on an entire bracket,” he said.

“Taylor is legit good on grass. He could easily be in the last weekend of Wimbledon.”

Roddick believes Fritz is a different player on the grass than he is on clay and hard, as he warns fans not to ‘sleep’ on him.

“Don’t sleep on Taylor Fritz on grass. I’ll get this slightly wrong, but I think he’s won seven or eight times on tour, and four of them have been on grass,” he said.

“He was a couple of points away from the semis [at Wimbledon in 2022] where he would have played [Nick] Kyrgios, he beat [Alexander] Zverev in a pretty dramatic five-setter last year,” said Roddick.

“At the time, I was shocked by the loss to [Lorenzo] Musetti, and Musetti has basically built on that and made it normal for him to be at the tail-end of tournaments.

“But no surprises, Taylor needs this shift to grass, he would probably tell you, I feel like I’m playing well but haven’t quite hit that results metric.”

Fritz will certainly be hoping to carry his grass-court momentum forward as he prepares for his opening match at the Queen’s Club Championships against Corentin Moutet on Tuesday, June 17.

Andy Roddick says Ben Shelton is ‘on the right trail’ as America find themselves another top star

There are currently three American players ranked inside the ATP top ten, for the first time since 2006.

The latest American to break into the top ten was Ben Shelton, who reached the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open last week.

Roddick was impressed by Shelton in Stuttgart, as he says what he’d like to see the 22-year-old add to his game

“Props to Ben [Shelton], if he can figure out that serve on grass, it’s just a nightmare,” he said.

“I’d like to see him jam more people on the body on this surface, make them go like T-Rex returners when you can’t extend your arms sometimes, and then it opens up the other ones.”

The 2003 US Open champion praised Shelton for his recent developments, which have seen him debut in the top ten.

“Ben has been kind of a really consistent build. He’s not taking, you know, you would see him have big results and then not play well for two months, and then a big result,” said Roddick.

“It seems like he’s finding that steady cadence and consistently winning matches that he’s supposed to win, which is a big, big deal. I’m not saying that dismissively.

“That’s the next step for him, and it seems like he’s on that trail.”

Shelton is scheduled to play his first match at the Queen’s Club Championships against Arthur Rinderknech on Tuesday, June 17.