Taylor Fritz has battled into the second round of the Australian Open after overcoming Valentin Royer in round one.
Fritz is the ninth seed at the Australian Open, and was forced to work very hard in his 7-6(7-5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 win over Royer.
American star Fritz, who has never made it beyond the Australian Open quarterfinals, will take on Vit Kopriva in round two.
Fritz was struggling with knee tendonitis going into the Grand Slam, with the 28-year-old discussing the issue after his opening win in Melbourne.
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Taylor Fritz suggests the tennis season is ‘too long’
When asked if it is particularly frustrating to not be 100% at the very start of the season, he pointed out: “By the way, if you look at the tour it’s not just me, there’s a lot of people starting the year with injuries.
“Maybe the season is too long, I don’t know. Maybe four weeks isn’t enough to fully get healthy of all injuries. You know, it is what it is. I think, like I said, laid a lot of groundwork in the off-season to get healthy.
“But at the same time the off-season is so short, you need to be like training hard in the off-season or else you come into the year feeling like you’ve not played enough matches or had enough time on court, which is very much how I feel.
“Like I said I’m really happy for those last two sets because I really felt like myself on the court the last two sets of that match, just how I’m processing, like how my mind is working.
“It felt great. So that’s good at least. Yeah, I mean, it’s tough when we have an off-season that kind of forces you.
“You have to be healthy in it to train or else you’re kind of in a bad spot to start the season. It’s not the best situation.”
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Taylor Fritz issues worrying injury update after Australian Open win
Fritz’s ATP rival Carlos Alcaraz has complained about the tennis calendar before, while Iga Swiatek has called the schedule “crazy”.
Fortunately the American was able to get through his latest match without retiring, which wasn’t the case for others in Melbourne.
Felix Auger-Aliassime retired with cramp in his opener, while Hugo Gaston ended his meeting with Jannik Sinner early due to illness.
Now sharing an update on his current fitness status, Fritz revealed: “I’ve said a little bit. I think there’s been some pretty big improvements in my knee.
“That was the goal to start feeling that about a little over two months into this, the program of strengthening the tendon. But I’m way better than I expected to be after how I felt my first week or so in Australia.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect to be able to play, I guess, the physicality and the length of the match I played today and actually not have my knee feel like awful right now. It’s really promising.
“But unfortunately there were some other injuries that popped up this week kind of when I was getting ready, which sucks. I don’t want to get into it too much. I might talk about it after the tournament.
“But I’m kind of just having to feel it as I go because it’s something I’ve dealt with before, so I am familiar with it.”
It’s a very worrying update from Fritz, who can hopefully keep the issues at bay as he looks to clinch a maiden Grand Slam title.
He will, however, be eager to get the job done quickly next time out, having needed three hours and two minutes to overcome Royer.
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