Taylor Fritz is fully focused on another strong Grand Slam run at the Australian Open, but two young stars have been catching his eye.
Fritz inflicted a heavy defeat on Jenson Brooksby in round one of the Australian Open, before a similarly convincing win over Cristian Garin in round two.
American Fritz, who lost in the finals of the 2024 US Open and ATP Finals to Jannik Sinner, now meets Gael Monfils in Melbourne.
Fritz suffered a knee injury against Garin, but still managed to win 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 as the ATP number four looks to go one further in Australia than in New York.
But he isn’t the only player who has impressed at the Australian Open, with rising stars Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik having really caught the eye.
Taylor Fritz ‘impressed’ by Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik at the Australian Open
Qualifier Fonseca beat ninth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets in round one, although Lorenzo Sonego ended the 18-year-old’s dream run in round two.
Mensik meanwhile is into round three after knocking out sixth seed Casper Ruud in the second round, with Fritz having been asked for his impression of the young duo in his latest press conference.
“Yeah, I think both of them are really good players,” he said. “I don’t think the upsets are too surprising to me.
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“I thought Rublev/Fonseca would be a bit closer probably. Yeah, I watched a little bit of that match. Really impressed. The guy, the kid is a very, very good player. His game is pretty complete as well.
“Mensik as well has definitely improved a lot over the last couple years. I mean, I played him at the Open in ’23.
“I literally think I played him on his 18th birthday. He’s improved a lot since then. Slightly different games. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting to see. I’m impressed by both of them.”
Taylor Fritz tips Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik to be ‘incredible players’
NextGen ATP Finals champion Fonseca may have exited the Australian Open, but the Brazilian has gained a lot of followers thanks to his displays in Melbourne.
And 19-year-old Mensik, who beat Nikoloz Basilashvili in round one, may just be eyeing another upset against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three.
At 27, Fritz is now one of the more experienced players on the ATP Tour, although he was also tasked with looking back on starting out as a teenager many years ago.
Asked if playing Grand Slam matches at a young age was daunting, he replied: “I mean, first of all, I actually think when you’re that age playing these big events, I think it’s so much easier to play than when you’re a bit older.
“When you’re that age, getting to play these big matches, there’s no expectations, there’s no pressure. You know you have all the time in the world to improve. You’re so early in your career.
“It’s really easy to go out and just play like these, I don’t know, loose matches where you’re just firing off the ball and crushing it and playing great.
“I’m super impressed by both these guys. We’ll obviously see how they improve. I think both of them are going to be incredible players.
“I don’t know. Also when I was younger, I think the top four or five was pretty ridiculous. It was like four or five… We had Rafa [Nadal], Fed (Roger Federer), Novak [Djokovic], Andy [Murray], Stan [Wawrinka], all those guys at one time.
“It was pretty tough to break through playing against like a top-8 seed. I think maybe now it’s a little more winnable for the younger guys because all the top seeds aren’t some of the best players of all time.
“That being said, there’s still a lot of… the depth is really strong right now with our current generation. Yeah, I don’t know.
“I mean, it’s tough. It’s tough to compare the different times. I think these guys are probably better than me when I was their age.”
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