Davis Cup: Taylor Fritz produces masterclass to bring USA level with Czech Republic after Jiri Lehecka's stunning win over Frances Tiafoe

Taylor Fritz produced a brilliant performance to help Team USA level Czechia in the second round of the Davis Cup. The most successful team in the history of the competition, Team USA, was handed a tough draw against a well-balanced Czechia side, which is full of players who have recently produced some incredible performances.

The tie, which is being played at the Delray Beach Tennis Centre, Delray Beach, USA, started in an unexpected manner where Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka secured a thumping win in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2 over America’s Frances Tiafoe. The win was a surprising one, considering it was the third meeting between the two players, and Tiafoe won the last two.

Lehecka was dominant throughout the match as he converted three break points. In comparison, Tiafoe did not win a single break point. Lehecka was far more effective on his serve, winning 69 per cent of the points, whereas Tiafoe only went on to win 56 per cent of the points while serving.

Lehecka’s second serve proved to be the game changer on the day, where he won 60 per cent of the points, which was considerably higher compared to Tiafoe, who won just 40 per cent of the points on his second serve. After the win, Lehecka stated that wins like these feel entirely different to securing victories on the tour. “Every Davis Cup win is something special for me,” he said. “These matches are something different from what we are living on tour.”

That result made it crucial for Fritz to find a way and help team USA, and he did exactly that by securing a win against big-serving Jakub Mensik in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-3. It was the third time these two players met in professional tennis and the first time since Mensik stunned Fritz in the semifinal of the Miami Open earlier this year.

That, however, did not stop Fritz from showing his class when it mattered the most as he came out on top in straight sets. Unlike the last time when these two met, Fritz managed to break Mensik’s serve on five occasions. He ended up winning 63 percent of the service points, which proved to be the difference in the end as Mensik only managed to win 51 percent of the points while serving. In total, Fritz won 75 points, 14 more than Mensik who fell short despite saving three match points.

Fritz produced nine aces and won 78 percent of the points on first serve. In comparison, Mensik won 66 percent points on his first serve. Fritz was far more dominant on the second serve as well, where he won 46 percent points. Talking after the match, Fritz stated that it was ‘great’ to win a match while playing for Team USA and also appreciated the crowd support. "It's great. It's great obviously playing for Team USA," Fritz said. "The crowd tonight was great in Delray. I love being in Delray and we needed this one, so it feels great to come out and deliver for the team."

On Saturday, three matches are set to be played to decide the winner of the contest. In the first match, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek will take on the pair of Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek. The second match of the day will be a feisty contest between the two winners of Friday’s matches, Fritz and Lehecka. In the previous head-to-head, Fritz had a clear advantage as he won on all four occasions. Their most recent meeting came earlier this year at the Canadian Open, where Fritz emerged victorious in a hard-fought contest with a score of 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. In the last contest of the day, Tiafoe and Mensik will face off.