In a clash between a tall American and an even taller America, Taylor Fritz proved much better winning the Eastbourne International for the 2nd time in his career 6-2 6-7(4) 7-6(4).
Taylor Fritz won this event a couple of years ago and it was his first career trophy. Coming back proved a good decision for the American was 0-2 on grass before coming here. He played a strong event and booked a final where Maxime Cressy waited for him. The taller American was playing in his 2nd final today and it did not start off too well.
Some nerves, some bad mistakes and generally rather poor serving performance was not good enough against an inspired Fritz. The Indian Wells champion did not face a single break point in the opening set which he won 6-2. The 2nd set was a superb display by both.
Neither allowed anything on serve but Fritz dropped only four points on serve in the entire set. So he won it right? Wrong, he actually dropped the set 7-4 in the tiebreak against Cressy who was not perfect in the set but he was perfect in the tiebreak not dropping one point on his serve. On return, he snatched two and that was enough.
He actually took an MTO after that but obviously continued playing with a chance to win his maiden trophy. The final set was a bit of a tired grass match with neither creating anything on return. No break points and we sailed into the tiebreak. Fritz proved slightly better winning it 7-4.