Fritz Foils Tiafoe For Tokyo Title

Following a rough start to his Asian swing where he battled COVID in Seoul, Taylor Fritz rebounded in the best possible way in Tokyo taking the title Sunday over countryman and good friend Frances Tiafoe in two breakers 7-6(3), 7-6(2).

“I came here confident that I could win a round or two and then see how it goes,” Fritz said. “I felt like if I could get through my first two matches, then I would probably be playing good enough tennis. So I think that was the real question mark, was those first two matches. But I honestly had a lot of confidence that I was going to win those.

“It’s really crazy that I went from being in quarantine, having to fly here, and then winning the tournament. It’s definitely something that I didn’t expect.”

Tiafoe had won 13 straight tiebreakers but that came to an end at the worst time as Fritz’s serve was on point throughout the match and especially so in the breakers.

“Both tiebreaks, I don’t think I missed a first serve, which is a huge key, coming up with it in the big moments,” said Fritz. “I felt extremely calm and I felt like I had a lot of clarity in making decisions on the court. For playing such a big match in a final, that’s huge to not be nervous and feel very calm and locked in.”

The victory was Fritz’s fourth of his career in nine finals, and he now leads Tiafoe 5-1 in their head-to-head. He’s won all three finals he’s been in this season. Tiafoe, who was seeking a second career title, was dropped his last four finals.

“He just played well. He played the big points well, played really aggressive,” said Tiafoe. “I wasn’t as aggressive as I was the last couple of matches. He played really aggressive, didn’t really miss when it mattered. He just played the bigger points a little better than I did today. It was a tight match and I didn’t play the breakers well enough. Pretty simple.”

Fritz will see his ranking climb to a new career-high No. 8.a

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