Taylor Fritz keeps making the same mistake on grass which affects his Wimbledon chances

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Taylor Fritz has grown a reputation as one of the top grass-court players on tour over the past few years

The American star has won four grass-court titles on the ATP Tour, a tally bettered by just one active player, Novak Djokovic.

Earlier this month, Fritz won the Stuttgart Open title, defeating home-favorite Alexander Zverev in the final.

He then traveled to London for the Queen’s Club Championships, where he suffered a shock defeat in his opening match, losing to Corentin Moutet 7-6, 6-7, 5-7.

Rather than resting up ahead of Wimbledon, Fritz has decided to return to Eastbourne, where he is the defending champion.

While Fritz has enjoyed success at the Eastbourne International over the years, he may, in fact, be hurting his Wimbledon chances by attending the ATP 250 event.

Taylor Fritz might be making a mistake playing the Eastbourne International

Fritz is currently preparing for his opening match at the Eastbourne International, where he will take on Brazilian prospect Joao Fonseca.

The 27-year-old has played Eastbourne, an event that takes place one week before Wimbledon, throughout his career.

• 2024 Eastbourne International – Winner
• 2023 Eastbourne International – Lost in 2R
• 2022 Eastbourne International – Winner
• 2019 Eastbourne International – Winner
• 2018 Eastbourne International – Lost in 1R

At first glance, it seems like Fritz is making a great move returning to Eastbourne, as he continues to pick up titles at the event.

However, whilst building confidence ahead of a Grand Slam tournament is certainly a positive, it’s also important to highlight the problems it can cause.

For a seeded player to win Eastbourne and Wimbledon back-to-back, they would need to win a minimum of 11 matches and 29 sets.

With fatigue building up, it’s not surprising that no player has done so since Eastbourne was added to the ATP 250 calendar in 2009.

Fritz came closest in 2024, losing a five-set quarterfinal to Lorenzo Musetti, having won Eastbourne in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

Of course, it’s rare to see Wimbledon ‘favorites’ competing at Eastbourne, but there may well be a good reason for that.

Carlos Alcaraz and Djokovic, the only Wimbledon champions since 2018, have won their titles by preparing at the Queen’s Club Championships, or without any warm-up tournaments at all.

Perhaps Fritz could have taken inspiration from the pair and chosen against competing at Eastbourne in 2025.

His fellow American, Sam Querrey, gave his thoughts on Fritz’s Eastbourne participation ahead of this year’s event.

“A lot of players I think it’s hard when you win a tournament a bunch of times to skip it, you feel like you play well there and he feels like he is going to win it, so if he skipped it in his mind he is thinking why would I skip a tournament that I am going to win,” he said.

“I like the play for Taylor [Fritz]. It’s a little over an hour from Wimbledon. You can lose on a Thursday, and then at 5 pm you’re at Wimbledon having dinner at 6:30 pm, so it’s very convenient.

Fritz will certainly be looking to pick up his fourth Eastbourne title in 2025, regardless of how it may impact his Wimbledon chances.

Who else is competing at the 2025 Eastbourne International?

Fritz will head to Eastbourne as the top seed and defending champion, but it’s far from a foregone conclusion that he will win the title, as he is joined by several top 20 stars in the south-east of England.

• 1. Taylor Fritz – (ATP #5)
• 2. Tommy Paul – (ATP #13)
• 3. Jakub Mensik – (ATP #17)
• 4. Ugo Humbert – (ATP #20)
• 5. Flavio Cobolli – (ATP #24)
• 6. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – (ATP #28)
• 7. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – (ATP #36)
• 8. Nuno Borges – (ATP #37)

His fellow American Tommy Paul may prove to be his toughest challenger, although they won’t meet until the final.

Fritz’s first seeded test could come in the quarterfinals against Flavio Cobolli, one of three multiple-time ATP Tour champions in 2025 (Alcaraz – 5, Felix Auger-Aliassime – 2, Cobolli – 2).

He could then play either Jakub Mensik or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semi-finals, provided both players aren’t upset in the early rounds.

Only then could Fritz play Paul, or a whole host of other big names, including Ugo Humbert and Alexander Bublik, in the final.

Fritz won’t want to get too far ahead of himself, however, and will now focus on his first round opponent, Fonseca, whom he plays on Wednesday, June 25.