Taylor Fritz has admitted that the Miami Open could be his last tournament for some time.
Fritz has been struggling with tendonitis in his knee since the start of the 2026 season and he did admit that it could force him to take a break if it showed no signs of improving.
However, the American has continued to compete, with Fritz being criticised for playing through injury.
After Fritz suffered an early exit at Indian Wells, he has now admitted that he is considering skipping the clay court season, but not everyone appears to think it is a wise decision.
Taylor Fritz admits he could take break after the Miami Open due to knee injury
The Miami Open is the last hard court tournament on the ATP Tour until the US Open swing, and Fritz provided an update on his knee ahead of the Masters 1000 tournament.
“I’m still managing my knee,” said Fritz. “Some days it’s better than others, and I don’t know why exactly.
“In Dallas, for example, it felt amazing and it didn’t bother me at all the whole tournament. I felt like I was moving great.
“And then, in the lead-in to Indian Wells, it wasn’t. It felt like I almost regressed a little bit. Same thing happened in Australia [at the Australian Open], as well.”
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Fritz then revealed that the Miami Open is the ‘cut-off’ for him in terms of making a decision to step away from the tour unless it recovers.
Last year, Fritz lost in the first round of the French Open and he admitted that the clay court season is the thing he is most willing to skip.
“This is kind of the cut-off,” said Fritz. “We said, after Miami if we’re not seeing big improvements, it might be time to… just, like, slow down a bit on the playing and get it healed 100 percent.
“Because if there was a portion of the season that I think I’d be more OK missing, it would be the clay-court season, like I did last year. I think this week is going to be very telling for it. But, overall, it’s not bad.”
Fritz is one of only two American players to have entered the Monte Carlo Masters, but his recent comments suggest that Frances Tiafoe may be the sole US representative at the first ATP 1000 tournament on clay this year.
Taylor Fritz’s decision questioned by Grand Slam champion
Although Fritz has been criticised for playing through injury, not everyone is completely understanding of his decision to take a break from tennis.
This includes five-time Grand Slam doubles champion Paul McNamee, who claimed that clay would actually reduce the impact on Fritz’s knees compared to other surfaces.
McNamee wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Except the only surface to play on which protects the knees is clay no?”
The Australian was met with a response by a tennis fan who suggested that the typically longer rallies and matches on clay could be damaging to Fritz’s knees.
However, McNamee once again fired back and pointed out that hard courts were more damaging, “You’d be surprised… it’s hardcourt which does the damage.”
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Fritz will now have his focus on the Miami Open, which could be his last tournament until the grass court season, and where he reached the semifinal last year.
As the sixth seed, Fritz receives a bye to the second round where he will play either former Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov or Botic van de Zandschulp.
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