Follow us on Google Discover Taylor Fritz was handed a tricky draw in Basel, facing off against the Shanghai Masters champion.
The American number one took on Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot in his Swiss Indoors first-round match.
It looked like Vacherot was going to continue his remarkable run when he led Fritz by a set to love, before the 27-year-old fought back.
Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images
Surviving a tiebreaker in the second, Fritz broke Vacherot’s resolve late in the third to secure his place in round two with a 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 win.
After the match, Fritz shared what frustrated him during his first career meeting with the in-form Monegasque.
Letting breaks slip ‘frustrated’ Taylor Fritz against Valentin Vacherot
During his on-court interview, Fritz gave his verdict on his three-set win over Vacherot.
Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images
“I mean, it was a tough match. I know that he was coming in very high on confidence. I think I did a good job of just staying with it,” he said.
“It was frustrating for me when I was up a break in every set and let it slip each time. I did a good job of just staying with it.”
Fritz was pleased with his efforts in turning the match around after dropping the opening set.
“I think the second set tiebreak onwards, I started to feel a lot better,” he said.
“In the first set, I wasn’t the best in some of the most important points, but yeah, in the second set breaker… As I said, serving for the set, I got broken, and did a great job [recovering], played that tiebreaker about as good as I could play it, and hit a big serve and a big forehand to save myself at a really crucial point in the third set.”
In a separate post-match interview, Fritz was full of praise for Vacherot, who has taken the tennis world by storm over recent weeks.
“Most of the match, he was serving two first serves. The second serve is huge; he goes more for the body on it,” said Fritz.
“I haven’t been returning on the first serve as well as I would have liked to lately, and I’ve been relying a lot on second serve return points won, which I’ve still been doing a pretty good job on, and he made it tough, which is how big the second serve was.
“He did a really good job of just playing defense, not making a lot of mistakes; he made me work for a lot of points.”
Both players made 10+ aces in an entertaining clash on Basel’s Centre Court.
PlayerAcesDouble faults1st Serve %Win % on 1st ServeWin % on 2nd ServeTaylor Fritz21659%71%59%Valentin Vacherot12762%75%49%Serving stats from Taylor Fritz vs Valentin Vacherot
The world number five will hope to produce another clinical serving performance when he returns for his second-round match.
‘There’s going to be a lot of big hitting’ – Taylor Fritz previews second-round match vs Ugo Humbert
Fritz will play Ugo Humbert in round two, after the Frenchman beat Sebastian Korda in his opener.
During the first of his two post-match interviews, Fritz was asked to preview his match against Humbert.
“He’s a really dangerous player, serves big, hits the ball big,” he said.
“Lefty as well, so I’m going to have to get used to that.
“There is going to be a lot of big hitting.”
As Fritz mentioned, Humbert is left-handed and is one of the best left-handers on the ATP Tour.
LH RankNameATP RankTitles1Ben Shelton632Jack Draper933Denis Shapovalov2344Ugo Humbert2475Cameron Norrie3556Corentin Moutet3607Learner Tien3808Adrian Mannarino5859Terence Atmane68010Alejandro Tabilo753Top ten left-handed players on the ATP Tour
The American is well aware of what Humbert has to offer, having played him twice before.
2023 Canadian Open R32 – Taylor Fritz defeated Ugo Humbert, 7-6, 3-6, 6-32020 Acapulco R16 – Taylor Fritz defeated Ugo Humbert, 6-4, 6-1
Only time will tell if Fritz can extend his winning record over Humbert to 3-0, but you certainly won’t want to miss any of the action.
Fritz will play Humbert in the second round of the Swiss Indoors on Thursday, October 23.