🇺🇸 Taylor Fritz is now *0-11* Vs Top 10 Players at Majors!
Taylor Fritz has opened up on what went wrong during his quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic at the US Open.
Ninth seed Fritz had the home crowd firmly behind him during his clash with the 23-time Grand Slam champion in New York, but defeating the 36-year-old was always going to be a big ask. This was especially the case due to the Serb's impressive lead over their head-to-head, which he now dominates 8-0.
Nevertheless, Fritz expressed some cautious optimism before the match, saying that he remained hopeful that this would be the time for him to get his first win against Djokovic. However, it was not to be, and the disappointed American crashed out of the quarter-finals in straight sets, with his opponent taking the match 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Speaking after the match, Fritz bemoaned his inability to use his serve to its full potential. The 25-year-old is usually known for serving big when under pressure, but this failed to materialize in his latest round at Flushing Meadows.
"Yeah, thoughts on the match. More like I needed to do a lot better on my serve. I need to serve much better and not just give away so many loose points on my serve.
"If I could actually serve I think to the standards that I know I can serve to, then, you know, then maybe I could work with something, it would be a closer match," he said.
Fritz also explained that he knew he needed to be on top form if he ever wanted to beat Djokovic.
"Obviously Novak being Novak, he’ll make me feel like I’m serving, you know, worse than I am, but, in other matches I wouldn’t get, I guess, as punished for missing so many first serves. I can maybe get away with it, but with him, I have to serve better than 50 percent, and I have to hit my spots better. That’s just how it is," he continued.
Fritz actually made 55 percent of his first serves, but this was still much less than usual for him and far from enough to threaten his tennis legend opponent.
Djokovic will go on to face Ben Shelton in the semi-finals of the US Open.
🇺🇸 Taylor Fritz is now *0-11* Vs Top 10 Players at Majors!