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Taylor Fritz Conquers Delray Beach Open
6 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Taylor Fritz was magnificent all week in dominating the Delray Beach Open. In yesterday’s final he beat Miomir Kecmanovic 60 57 62. It is the fifth career ATP title for the world no. 7 American.
The first time I saw Fritz in Delray Beach was in 2016 when he was 18 and ranked 102. He lost to Donald Young in the first round and stayed around to keep training. I was in the stadium watching a match in the afternoon and saw Fritz was practicing with a Japanese player (I believe it was Yosuke Watanuki) on an outer court. Fritz was ornery and at one point I heard him angrily say to his coach Paul Annacone, “Don’t talk to me in the middle of a point.”
Now years later Fritz is the Delray Beach Open champion and an ATP elite at his career best ranking, just 260 points behind world no. 6 Rafael Nadal.
But Fritz has flopped in his last two Grand Slams losing early to two players he should have handled. Fritz is an extraordinary player, we see the easy power, clutch striking and very good mobility for a big man. Everyone saw how he almost beat Novak Djokovic at AO a few years back.
But how Fritz lost to Brandon Holt and Alex Popyrin in his last two Grand Slams is so shocking. He’s so much better than that. If Fritz and coach Michael Russell can fix that flaw I believe Fritz can win major titles beyond the Indian Wells title he won last year vs Nadal in the fina. Maybe the 25 year old Fritz has got to mentally switch his mind and treat those early round Grand Slam matches like he’s the underdog. Double the intensity even. Like Lleyton Hewitt was roaring Come Ons! when he played the Japanese wildcard ranked 400 one year in Tokyo when he was ranked no. 2 in the world. There is just no way Fritz should be losing to the likes of Holt and Popyrin in Grand Slams, no disrespect.
Delray Beach · Delray Beach Open · Head tennis · Nike · Taylor Fritz
Cory · February 20, 2023 at 9:19 pm
Nice post. Miss Lleyton, one of my favorites to watch. He really pumped you up, just watching.
I liken Fritz to a Zverev… hasn’t climbed that big mountain yet but always knocking… but spurious at best, so far, at the biggest events (slams).
I was hoping Mmoh would emerge at Delray. Had a good run. I find him mentally very strong, Scoop. Thoughts It’s a mystery why he can barely crack the top 100.
Scoop Malinowski · February 21, 2023 at 8:37 am
Cory, Mmoh has languished and struggled in obscurity for five year. But he’s finally making a move now and he’s impressive. I don’t know why it took so long, he was right in with the top guys at the Eddie Herr 18s where he made the final with Opelka, Ruud and Deminaur in the draw. Looks like a top 20 force now though. Hewitt’s combative in your face ferocity was so great for tennis, he was the boy who conquered the world. Still looked like an undersized junior when he was on top but he beat all the best for a couple of years. Wish he lasted longer. Maybe the greatest fighter in ATP history, he was a welterweight beating up heavyweights. Fritz has to do it at the majors, until then he’s Brad Gilbert or Mardy Fish.
catherine · February 22, 2023 at 7:15 am
I looked at some of the comments under the Murray thread and it was interesting (piquant ?) to see a glimpse into the years ago past and how things have changed.
Few tennis chat sites, that I know or knew of have lasted. Different reasons. Some have come and gone and then resurfaced. A few just disappeared, probably through changing interests and other calls on time. And other more immediate social media.
Conversations are good but it’s hard to keep them going and on the rails.
I’m watching the parallel careers of Fernandez and Raducanu but I haven’t come to any conclusions yet. Leylah is playing more but having some bad losses. Emma isn’t testing herself.
Scoop Malinowski · February 22, 2023 at 11:43 am
Murray still asking for and getting wildcards and scoring some nice wins but it’s strange that after all the good wins and wildcards he asked for and received that he still needs to keep asking for wildcards. How many young deserving players are getting cheated out of wildcards by a guy who has earned over $60m in career prize money?
catherine · February 22, 2023 at 11:56 am
He can’t let go.
‘ Former coach Dmitry Tursunov has revealed why he decided to end the coaching role he had with the former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
During ‘The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast’, the Russian former player confirmed that it was he who ended the relationship, citing convoluted and lengthy negotiations as a reason for his decision to leave.
‘ I stopped the negotiations. I felt like the negotiations went too long. Too far that wasn’t a solid commitment, not on the terms that I liked. We started to negotiate over things that were so trivial and insignificant in my mind that it wouldn’t have worked. I didn’t feel secure enough.
I didn’t feel like it’s a serious set up I didn’t feel like it’s gonna be a long-term relationship. I felt like it at any point it can break over something insignificant and I could have been wrong maybe. I had PTSD, you know, from previous relationships.
Despite the acrimonious end to their partnership, Tursunov still believes that the British No. 1 will be a success in the future, and spoke positively about her work ethic, intelligence and commitment to the sport.
‘I mean, with me, she was a hard worker. Sooner or later, she’s just gonna sort it out. She’s too smart of a person not to sort out you know. She loves tennis too much not to figure it out.’
Tursunov has spoken about PTSD before but hasn’t gone into details. My view, for the little it’s worth, is Emma’s mind. She doesn’t think the same way as most players – possibly it’s her mathematical training, or something related. So negotiations aren’t a simple matter. And that gets in the way.
Scoop Malinowski · February 22, 2023 at 12:24 pm
Sounds like he pushed hard for a long term commitment but Emma refused to be locked into anything. Money was surely a factor too.