Tim Henman was left stunned by Taylor Fritz’s imperious opening-round victory over Lorenzo Musetti, spotting a really good sign for the rest of his ATP Finals campaign.
It was as straightforward a win as the big-serving favourite could have hoped for, taking full advantage of an exhausted opponent who could not muster much of a fight.
Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz forged 12 break points and won 84% of his first serve points, blitzing through service games with frightening ease.
Henman, though, did not limit his adulation solely to that area of his performance.
Tim Henman rates Taylor Fritz’s performance in his first ATP Finals match
Chatting live on Sky Sports, Henman was enthused by what he had just seen from the American.
“This is Fritz at his best,” he began. “He is so efficient. His serving was huge. We have talked about the altitude, it was up around 220kmph. From the back of the court, he was able to dominate Musetti. Musetti was getting forced further and further back in the court.”
This afforded Fritz the perfect opportunity to thrive, as Henman continued: “When you retreat, you give Fritz more time and he is so good at changing directions. He was looking to come forward, which is a good sign.
“He is not always comfortable at the net. But getting a break early in each set, you felt Musetti was always trying to play catch-up and get the adrenaline flowing and get the crowd involved, but I think Fritz was just too good today.”
However, Henman was not finished there, going on to laud Fritz’s return of serve too, as he continued: “I thought Fritz’s return of serve was so impressive. Yes, Musetti was serving some fast first serves, but he was able to get them back and hit length and almost neutralise the serve, and when they were getting into the baseline exchanges, you felt Fritz was going to come out on top.
“It was one of those matches you felt Musetti was serving 80% of the time. When Fritz had the balls in his hand, it was 15-0, 30-0, 40-0.”
Taylor Fritz will be hoping to avenge his 2024 loss in the final of the ATP Finals
It’s clear that the 28-year-old was well aware of the dominant nature of his display, as Fritz also praised his own performance, speaking on-court afterwards.
And, there’s good reason for his no-nonsense return to action at this event, given he will be desperate to avenge his loss in the final last year.
Fritz impressed in the round robin, battling to defeat Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur, before then bypassing Alexander Zverev in the semi-final as well.
However, he faced the unstoppable force that was Jannik Sinner in the final. After losing to him in the group stages, he suffered the same fate at the last hurdle, cementing the one-sided nature of this particular head-to-head.
If he is to avenge that disappointment at this year’s ATP Finals, Fritz will almost definitely have to overcome Sinner, claiming what would be only his second-ever win over the former world number one.
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