Follow us on Google Discover Beating Taylor Fritz and earning a seal of approval from Alexander Zverev is no mean feat.
Only Carlos Alcaraz has won more matches on the ATP Tour than Fritz this year, and the United States star is a player firmly on the up.
These days, Fritz often gets to the latter stages of Grand Slams, and if any player comes out on top of him in one of the major events, they’ve clearly played extremely well.
Fritz was sent packing early at the Shanghai Masters, and clearly, there is an element that he perhaps plays too much tennis.
Back in 2022, things were the same as he tried to enjoy a breakthrough year on the ATP Tour, and one man who beat him at the French Open is now enduring a rotten time of things.
Photo by Shi Tang/Getty ImagesBernabe Zapata Miralles loses 11 matches in succession
For Zapata Miralles, it’s really been a tricky time of things with his performances since 2022, largely going backwards.
The Spaniard is trying these days to get points to climb up the rankings through the Challenger Tour, and things aren’t going well for him.
This week, he was beaten at the latest Challenger event in Greece, and his defeat to Austrian player Dennis Novak in round one now means he’s lost 11 straight matches.
The 2022 qualified for Indian Wells as recently as this year but was beaten in the first round, also losing in round one of the Australian Open after coming through qualifying.
Otherwise, it’s been a pretty drab year for the player who offered so much promise with a truly remarkable run at the French Open in 2022, now a distant memory.
What Bernabe Zapata Miralles did at the French Open in 2022
Zapata Miralles came through qualifying in 2022 to make the main draw at Roland Garros.
He came through comfortably against American wildcard Michael Mmoh in round one before meeting Fritz in round two.
The 13th seed at the time was the heavy favourite for the match and after winning the first set, he looked well on course to make round three.
Zapata Miralles produced some breathtaking tennis, however and managed to stun Fritz in four sets and set up a match with John Isner.
Despite his big-serving capabilities, Isner was sent packing too, losing in five sets, with the qualifier teeing up a crack at Alexander Zverev.
On this occasion, it wasn’t to be for the Spaniard, but some Zverev comments from afterwards suggested the three-set win for the German was harder than it looked.
He said in his press conference: “He was driving me nuts to be honest. I could barely hit a winner against him. He’s playing incredible tennis, so if he continues playing like this, I don’t see why his ranking is not going to go up even more.”
Sadly, that wasn’t to be and now Zapata Miralles might have some big decisions to make in the off-season with his ranking practically non-existent and his losing streak showing little sign of ceasing.