Taylor Fritz
_(29780344661).jpg) Fritz at the 2016 US Open | |
| Full name | Taylor Harry Fritz |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  United States |
| Residence | Palos Verdes, California, U.S. |
| Born | October 28, 1997 Rancho Santa Fe, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Turned pro | 2015 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two handed-backhand) |
| Coach | David Nainkin & Mardy Fish |
| Prize money | $722,750 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 20–28 (41.7%) |
| Career titles | 0 3 Challengers |
| Highest ranking | No. 53 (29 August 2016) |
| Current ranking | No. 94 (11 September 2017) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2016, 2017) |
| French Open | 1R (2016) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2016, 2017) |
| US Open | 2R (2017) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 3–9 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 231 (3 October 2016) |
| Current ranking | No. 302 (26 June 2017) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| US Open | 2R (2016, 2017) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| US Open | 1R (2014, 2015) |
| Last updated on: 1 July 2017. | |
Taylor Harry Fritz (born October 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. He is the 2nd-fastest American ever to reach an ATP final, accomplishing the feat in just his third career event.[1]
His mother Kathy May Fritz was a world Top 10 tennis player, and his father also played professional tennis.[2] He reached the finals in boys' singles at the 2015 French Open, and lost to fellow American Tommy Paul in three sets. He avenged the loss by defeating Paul in the boys' singles final at the 2015 US Open.
Early life and background
Fritz was born to Guy Fritz and former world top-10 tennis player Kathy May. He is the great-great-grandson of David May, founder of The May Department Stores Company[3] (now Macy's), and the great-grandson of Morton D. May.
Junior career
In 2015, Fritz reached at least the quarterfinal of all four junior grand slam tournaments, including the final at the French Open where he lost to Tommy Paul, and the final at the U.S. Open where he defeated Paul. This grand slam success helped him finish the year as the number one ranked boy's junior tennis player, for which he was named the 2015 ITF Junior World Champion. He was the first American to hold this title since Donald Young in 2005 and Andy Roddick in 2000.[4]
| Junior Grand Slam Finals | |||||||||
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2015 | French Open | Clay |  Tommy Paul
|
6–7(4–7), 6–2, 2–6 | ||||
| Winner | 2015 | US Open | Hard | Tommy Paul
|
6–2, 6–7(4–7), 6–2 | ||||
Professional
2015: Challenger Tour success
Fritz played his first ATP Tour tournament at Nottingham, where he received a wild card and won his first ATP match.[5] In September 2015, Fritz turned pro after winning the Junior U.S. Open. He quickly rose from the 600s into the Top 250 of the ATP Rankings by becoming the 9th player at age 17 to win multiple Challenger Tour titles – doing so in back-to-back weeks. The others to accomplish that feat include Top 20 players Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, and Juan Martín del Potro as well as Number 1 overall players Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.[6]
2016: Surge into Top 100
After losing in the final of his last tournament of 2015, Fritz reached a final again in his first tournament of 2016, this time winning against Top 100 player Dudi Sela at Happy Valley to catapult to a ranking in the 150s. In the following week, he made it through Australian Open Qualifying to reach his first main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, where he would lose in the 1st round to fellow American Jack Sock in five sets.
Fritz was awarded a wild card into his first ATP 250 tournament of 2016 at Memphis and knocked off the 2nd-seeded Steve Johnson, who at No. 29 is the highest ranked player Fritz had ever defeated. With his victory over Ricardas Berankis in the semi-final, he became the youngest American to reach an ATP final since Michael Chang in 1988, and also the 2nd-fastest American ever to reach an ATP final, doing so in just his 3rd career ATP tournament. John Isner is the only American that was able to reach an ATP final faster.[1][7] Fritz would lose in the final to three-time defending champion and Top 10 player Kei Nishikori. In February, Fritz cracked the Top 100 for the first time by reaching the quarter-finals in Acapulco at his first career ATP 500 event.
Fritz's grass court season was highlighted by a close three set loss to Roger Federer at Stuttgart. He would end up peaking in the rankings at No. 53 towards the end of the summer. At the US Open, Fritz drew Jack Sock in the first round of a grand slam for the second time this year, again losing in five sets.
To cap off the year, Fritz won the ATP Star of Tomorrow for being the youngest player in the Top 100, having just turned 19 years old.
2017: First Grand Slam match win
Fritz struggled through the first half of the year with injury problems, and ended up skipping the clay court season to focus on recovering.[8] He returned to form in the summer with quarterfinals at Los Cabos and Winston-Salem. He finally won his first match at a grand slam by knocking out Marcos Baghdatis at the US Open.
Playing style
Fritz possesses a dominant serve that can reach 130 mph, and solid groundstrokes off both wings.[9]
Personal life
When Fritz played his first match against Roger Federer, he recalled when in computer class in the 5th grade, he live streamed the 2009 US Open final between Federer and Juan Martín del Potro.[10]
He married tennis player Raquel Pedraza in California in July 2016, after dating for over two years.[11] Raquel gave birth to the couple's child, a boy named Jordan, in January 2017.
ATP career finals
Singles: (0–1)
|
|
|
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | February 14, 2016 | Memphis Open, Memphis, United States | Hard (i) |  Kei Nishikori
|
4–6, 4–6 |
Challenger finals
Singles: (3–2)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | October 11, 2015 | Sacramento, CA, United States | Hard | Jared Donaldson
|
6–4, 3–6, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2. | October 18, 2015 | Fairfield, CA, United States | Hard |  Dustin Brown
|
6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 3. | November 21, 2015 | Champaign, IL, United States | Hard (i) |  Henri Laaksonen
|
6–4, 2–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 4. | January 10, 2016 | Happy Valley, Adelaide, Australia | Hard |  Dudi Sela
|
7–6(9–7), 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 5. | February 4, 2017 | Dallas, TX, United States | Hard (i) | Ryan Harrison
|
3–6, 3–6 |
Singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Current through the 2017 US Open.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | SR | W–L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| French Open | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| US Open | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0 / 7 | 1–7 | 13% |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | |||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | Q2 | 1R | 3R | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Miami Open | A | A | 2R | 2R | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Madrid Open | A | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Rome Masters | A | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Canadian Open | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Shanghai Masters | A | A | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | |
| Paris Masters | A | A | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 3–2 | 0 / 7 | 5–7 | 42% |
| Career Statistics | |||||||
| Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0% | |
| Overall Win–Loss | 0–0 | 1–1 | 15–22 | 11–12 | 27–35 | 44% | |
| Year-end Ranking | 1149 | 174 | 76 | ||||
Wins over top 10 players
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | TF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | |||||||
| 1. |  Marin Čilić
|
No. 7 | Indian Wells, United States | Hard | 2R | 4–6, 7–5, 6–4 | 136 |
References
- ^ a b "Taylor Fritz reaches Memphis Open final". February 13, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ "At 17, Taylor Fritz could be the next big thing in American men's tennis". July 7, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
- ^ The Making of America’s Next Great Tennis Talent
- ^ "Taylor Fritz and Dalma Galfi crowned 2015 ITF Junior World Champions". Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ "Ferrer, Lopez Lead Nottingham Field". June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
- ^ "Fritz goes back to back". October 19, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
- ^ "Fritz reaches Memphis Final". February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Fritz leads way as Americans launch a charge". Wimbledon. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
- ^ "Is Fritz the future of American tennis?". USA Today. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ "Fritz Sets Federer Clash; Del Potro Makes Winning Return". Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ^ "At 18, Taylor Fritz has a huge serve and a new wife. Just don't call him a kid". Retrieved July 19, 2016.
External links
- Taylor Fritz at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- {{ITF profile}} template using deprecated numeric ID.
