Taylor Fritz’s year has not got off to the best of starts, but we are now starting to enter a period that he historically loves.
The grass is certainly a friend of this big-serving American, who has all the tools needed to thrive on this surface.
And, in the past, he has.
Five of his ten career titles have come on grass, and other than his run to the US Open final in 2024, his best-ever performances have come at Wimbledon.
So, he will hope that this stretch of the tour can help get his season back on track, having just scored a second narrow victory in quick succession in Stuttgart.
Taylor Fritz reacts after winning another tight match in Stuttgart
It seems strange that, had a few points not gone his way, we could be discussing a torrid start to the grass-court season for Taylor Fritz, and starting another inquest into his form.
Instead, he is preparing to play a semi-final match of a tournament he won last year.
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Asked if he plans to keep playing such enthralling, closely-fought matches, he laughed as he claimed: “I hope not!”
Fritz then admitted: “I’m just happy to get through another one like that.
“It’s, uh.. I’m in really tough matches. I’m really being tested in these first two matches here, and I’m super happy to get through them because the big part, one of the most important parts of playing on grass is just winning these big points sometimes and getting through these close matches, because there’s always going to be a lot of them on grass.”
Then speaking about what parts of his game felt good, he gave a positive assessment: “I mean, to be honest, I felt like a lot. A lot of my game felt good.
“I served well, but I just felt like a lot of times he wasn’t even giving me much of a chance to play in the first two sets; he was playing incredibly well and I felt like I was playing pretty good, and I just had to, you know, mentally just stay with it.”
Then, referencing the struggles of defending the title, he admitted: “I mean, everyone’s been talking about it to me before the week started, but no, I’m just trying to take it a match at a time because, I mean, that’s what I did last year.
“I came in last year, not really expecting too much, because I’ve never been, prior to last year, never really had success the first two weeks of the grass-court season, so I kept the expectations low, so I’m trying to do the same again.”
This comes after Fritz stated what he needed to work on following his nervy opening-round win over Martin Landaluce.
Taylor Fritz’s head-to-head record vs Alexander Bublik
For a player who has already been exhausted by his opening two rounds, things get no easier for Fritz, who will have to face Alexander Bublik next in Stuttgart.
It will mark the eighth career meeting between these two, both of whom have previous form on grass.
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However, it is the Kazakh who actually leads their head-to-head, with four wins from seven matches.
In their only ever grass-court meeting though, Fritz emerged victorious, beating Bublik during the 2022 Eastbourne quarter-final.
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