Taylor Fritz overcame a tough start in his round of 32 match against Alejandro Tabilo at Indian Wells to set up a clash with Jack Draper.
Fritz came through in comfortable fashion against Italian player Matteo Gigante on Saturday, but against the Chilean player he was given a much tougher assignment.
The 27-year-old came through despite losing the first set, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 after showing the class that has seen him become the American number one during the final two sets.
Fritz has praised Draper ahead of their match tomorrow but it’s not unfair to say that he will need to start much better against the Great Britain number one when they lock horns.
Taylor Fritz shares why he struggled in the first set vs Alejandro Tabilo
The American player avoided a shock result by coming through against Tabilo but he will know that he can find some extra gears as things progress at Indian Wells.
After the match, he shared why things were such a struggle from the off and it’s likely down to the fact that he’s not been practicing too much ahead of the tournament.
He said in his post-match press conference: “Yeah, I mean, it was actually not awful in the beginning. The wind, like, every day since I have been here and honestly in past years, has kind of always gone one way.
“So I switched sides after the first game and thought I was against the wind, because that’s the way it always goes. So I blasted three balls long on my first service game thinking I was against the wind when I was with the wind. So kind of just unlucky I misread it.
“So started down a quick break but played pretty well to get the break back.
“Then, yeah, after that, it was just really sloppy. It’s probably just a bit of the wind, a bit of rust, because I, you know, I took, like, you know, two weeks, maybe not quite two weeks, but didn’t touch a tennis ball until the Tuesday before, like a couple of days ago. So I think could just be that.”
Taylor Fritz head to head vs Jack Draper
The two players who are keen to get over the line and win a Grand Slam title in their careers have a record that simply can’t be split.
Fritz has faced Draper on four occasions, coming out on top twice and losing the other two to the England-born star.
The first meeting came at Queen’s in 2022. On that occasion, it was Draper who used the home crowd to his advantage by winning 6-3, 6-2.
Fritz won the next two. Both came last year, with the first three-set victory coming in the Munich Open quarter-final and the other coming at Roland Garros during the Paris Olympics.
Finally, Draper restored parity in the Paris Masters – an ATP 1000 event – and he will hope that that win on a hard court means things can go in his way when the two meet at Indian Wells.
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