In the scorching heat of Washington, Taylor Fritz cruised against Dan Evans but then he didn't as the Brit completed the comeback win.
Neither one of those players looked eager to play some tennis in the scorching heat in Washington but they had to. The conditions and the court speed suit Fritz very well and he was able to use that to his advantage. Evans is a very good defender however it's not a playstyle you want to play on courts like these.
You'll run a lot but rarely get rewarded and that was certainly the case for Evans. The first set was interesting because Fritz did not serve well. He allowed himself to get broken once as he struggled with his 2nd serve but he also broke Evans twice which was enough for his 6-3 opening set win. The American was much better in the 2nd set serving-wise and it allowed him to cruise through most of the games early.
It didn't go as smooth later as Evans broke back to make it 4-4. Both held their serves after that and eventually we ended up in a tiebreak. It was a crazy one with both having chances but eventually, Evans saved a match point to win it 8-6. Neither looked very healthy in the final set as Fritz looked like he would pass out any moment and Evans dealt with some shoulder discomfort.
The first three games featured 3 breaks which was unusual at the very least but it proved that both struggled. Fritz took a MTO down 1-2 and continued but after losing his serve once more to go down 1-4 he retired to escape the heat.