Taylor Fritz looked bewildered for a second as the Australian Open umpire read out Fritz’s winning third-round score.
After his two blink-and-you’ll-miss-them forehand winners, and a double fault from opponent Roberto Bautista Agut, Fritz had conquered his own double nemesis: He’d finally reached a fourth round at a Grand Slam, and he’d beaten the man who has time and time again dominated him on the court — his “dad,” as Fritz jokingly calls Bautista Agut.
Ahead of the American player’s 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win Saturday, the Spaniard Bautista Agut owned a 5-2 advantage in head-to-head matches against Fritz. But on this occasion, it is Fritz, 24, who is entering the second week of a Grand Slam, the first time ever in his young career.
In tennis, you often see nail-biting moments when a host of emotions cross a player’s face in a split second. With Fritz, you could see the shock in his eyes as Bautista Agut’s second serve hit the net, the smile erupting on his face, and a rush of bubbling emotion as Fritz realized he’d won. Fritz looked to his team and, as his hands came together, cradling his racquet, he mouthed, “Oh, my God.”
“After that match, I was almost close to like tearing up a bit,” Fritz said. “But it seems stupid, because so many people have made the second week of Slams … it’s just eluded me for so long.”
Success in tennis doesn’t have to be gold-plated trophies or No. 1 rankings — it is subjective and can be manifested in personal firsts, or in Fritz’s case, a spell in which his body and mind have come together, permitting him to finally stretch his game.
Fritz’s 2021 was laced with poor fortune: His 2021 Australian Open campaign hit a Novak Djokovic-sized wall in the third round. At the French Open, he left the court in a wheelchair after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee on match point against him. He fought back from surgery to play at Wimbledon a month later but ran…
Source : espn
