Taylor Fritz wins 2022 Japan Open over Tiafoe

Taylor Fritz scored another win over Frances Tiafoe 7-6(3) 7-6(2) to secure the 2022 Japan Open trophy in Tokyo.

It was a good final and certainly delivered on the hype before the match with Fritz proving better than his compatriot Taifoe. Both of them will have a new career-high ranking on Monday but Fritz only confirmed his top 10 ascension with this trophy.

It was a close match as the score suggests because we went to a tiebreak twice. Tiafoe actually started a bit better taking an early break from Fritz but he gave it right back and we were tied 2-2. From there it was a rather good battle between the players with each having chances to break the other. Neither used them so it was tiebreak time.

In it, Fritz risked a bit more and it paid off as he took it 7-3. He was sharper on his serve and that proved crucial. When it mattered he was also able to produce the better shot and in a tiebreak, every point matters. The second set was pretty much the same but Fritz was on a roll and you could see the confidence in his game.

Tiafoe faced several break points over the course of the set but saved each of them to drag himself to the tiebreak. It looked problematic for him as he was unable to carve out a single break point in the entire set and that continued in the tiebreak. Fritz was better and finished off 7-2.