Taylor Fritz put through his paces but able to come out triumphant in opening round match at Australian Open

Taylor Fritz overcame a very tense start in his Australian Open first round with a 6-7(5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 triumph against Valentin Royer.

After an inconsistent United Cup filled with a host of setbacks, he was desperately hoping to come to Melbourne Park back to his best as he looked to climb back up the rankings. He was engulfed in a battle over the first two sets, but managed to find the tennis needed to keep his opponent at arm's length.

As the match went on, Fritz serve proved to be very crucial. He won 82% of points on it, but just over half of his second serve points he walked away as a winner, which is slightly concerning. He created 21 break points but Royer saved 15 of them. Despite these looming stats circling the former quarter-finalist, he still managed to confirm his spot in the next round.

It was a very hectic start to the match. Ryer managed to squeeze in front with a break before Fritz instantly got back on level terms. This was not kept the same for long, with the Frenchman once again taking the advantage, and cemented this with an emphatic hold to love.

Fritz was up to the challenge, winning three games on the spin to go from 4-1 down to 4-4. He missed a break point to serve it out for the set, with a tiebreaker needed in the premature stages of the match. Royer was the quicker out of the blocks, settling into a 4-1 lead. From there, Fritz won six of the next seven points to get the first set in the bag.

He was looking to get the job done quickly, not allowing his opponent a possible pathway back into the match. In the first four games, he had four break points which were all salvaged by Royer. It would be relatively comfortable on each others.

This was until Fritz was serving at 4-4, as he saved three break points to go 5-4 ahead. He was not out of the woods yet, with the 24-year-old finally managing to get ahead. He served it out with his second set point, and we had a level match.

While the first two sets lasted almost an hour, the third one was over a lot quicker with Fritz sprinting out to a 5-0 lead. Unable to clinch a bagel, he settled for a 6-1 third set win as he looked like he was closing in on the finishing line.

The former US Open finalist began the fourth set as he finished, breaking enroute to a 2-0 lead. He had four chances to make it 3-0 but Royer managed to stop the rot, and one again got into his tennis. It was not enough to stop a rampant Fritz, who won the final eight points to complete a hard fought victory. Vit Kopriva will be his next task in this year's Australian Open.