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Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz Mubadala DC Open: Fritz Beats Rafael Jodar

August 3, 2026 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

Washington, D.C. — Taylor Fritz finally has a trophy to show for a season full of near-misses. Taylor Fritz won the Mubadala DC Open on Monday, battling past rising Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar 7-6(2), 6-4 to snap a run of three straight final losses and claim his first ATP title of 2026.

Taylor Fritz celebrates after winning the Mubadala DC Open, beating Rafael Jodar

Mubadala DC Open Final: Fritz Survives a Scare from Jodar

The final, originally scheduled for Sunday, was pushed to Monday after rain hit the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center at Rock Creek Park. When play finally got underway, 19-year-old Jodar showed no signs of nerves in his first ATP 500 final, taking the opening set to a tiebreak and even holding match points before Fritz clawed his way back to close it out 7-6(2).

Fritz raised his level in the second set, breaking Jodar’s serve to close out the match 6-4 and seal an 11th ATP Tour singles title — but his first since well before the 2026 season began. It marked Fritz’s second win over Jodar this year, having also beaten him in straight sets earlier in February at the Delray Beach Open.

The Road to Fritz’s Washington Title

World No. 10 Fritz worked through a tough Washington draw, needing three sets to get past fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the semifinals after also grinding out wins over Alex Michelsen, Kamil Majchrzak, and Zizou Bergs earlier in the week.

Jodar’s run to the final was just as impressive. Ranked No. 24, the teenager knocked out Arthur Fils, former US Open champion Kei Nishikori, and fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti before edging Alejandro Tabilo in the semis. It was a breakout week for the #NextGenATP star, who came within a set — and a handful of match points — of a historic maiden ATP title.

What This DC Title Means for Fritz

Before Washington, 2026 had been a frustrating season for Fritz despite a strong overall win-loss record. He reached finals at the Dallas Open, Stuttgart Open, and Halle Open but came up short each time, twice losing to fellow American Ben Shelton and once to Frances Tiafoe. The Washington title finally ends that drought and gives Fritz momentum heading into the North American hard-court swing ahead of the US Open.

Looking Ahead to the US Open

For Jodar, Monday’s runner-up finish is still a major statement — proof that his rapid rise up the rankings is no fluke. Expect the Spaniard to be a factor on tour for years to come.

For Fritz, the Mubadala DC Open trophy is a timely confidence boost as the hard-court season heats up and the US Open approaches later this month.

Filed Under: Featured Columns, Lead Story Tagged With: Taylor Fritz

US Open To Host Mixed Doubles Championship During Its Lead-Up “Fan Week” Starting In 2025

February 11, 2025 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The USTA has reimagined and elevated the focus on the US Open Mixed Doubles Championship by moving it to the first week of the US Open – Fan Week – to be played Tuesday, August 19–Wednesday, August 20. With the Mixed Doubles Championship no longer played during the main draw of singles play, a blockbuster field of the sport’s biggest stars have a greater opportunity to team up to vie for this coveted Grand Slam title and a $1M winner’s prize. The Mixed Championship will take center stage over two days of competition in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium. With the shift also comes more opportunities for fans everywhere to enjoy watching their favorite stars compete for another Grand Slam title, with planned first-time primetime ESPN and international broadcast coverage of the Championship.

“I could not be more excited to introduce this groundbreaking innovation to the 2025 US Open Championships,” said Lew Sherr, USTA Executive Director and CEO. “We’ll be scheduling mixed doubles on the center stage and enabling more fans worldwide to enjoy the thrill of watching their favorite stars compete for this coveted Grand Slam Championship title. One of the primary reasons the US Open is among the premier sports events in the world is because it features the best athletes, both male and female, competing on an equal stage. This is the official US Open Mixed Doubles Championship, and by giving the competition its own spotlight we’re elevating mixed doubles to put an even greater focus on the incredible talent we have across the sport. We’re working closely with top players, many of whom are eager to be part of this historic change. Having our broadcasting partners, including ESPN, onboard to showcase this innovation only adds to the excitement, ensuring that fans everywhere will get to witness these elite athletes team up and redefine the game together.”

Tennis is the only professional sport where women and men compete together on the same court for equal prize money in a major championship. The 2025 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship continues this tradition, now featuring top singles players. Excitement is high among the game’s top stars who have already expressed intent to compete in this reimagined format, made possible by the shift to week one (Fan Week) where it will not overlap with the main draw singles competition.

Jessica Pegula said, “As a player who enjoys competing in doubles, I’m excited for the opportunity to play the 2025 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship during the first week. I appreciate the importance of innovation and exploring new ways to engage more fans and grow our sport.”

Taylor Fritz added, “Mixed doubles is always a great challenge, and I’ve had some amazing experiences with it over the years, from the Olympics to the United Cup, and even the USO Mixed Madness last year. I’m definitely looking forward to the chance to compete for a Grand Slam title in the future.”

The reimagination of the 2025 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship comes following the tremendous success of the 2024 US Open Mixed Madness in Arthur Ashe Stadium, won by Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Substantial attendance figures, along with enthusiasm from broadcast partners and positive feedback from players, partners and fans showed the desire for a showcase of top players in this format. Innovations include:

  • A player field featuring 16 teams – eight teams earning direct entry based on their combined singles ranking and eight wild-card entries.
  • Best-of-three-set matches with short sets to four games, no-ad scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set.
  • The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games, featuring no-ad scoring, with tiebreakers at six-all and a 10-point match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set.
  • All matches played in Arthur Ashe Stadium or Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“We are pleased to offer prime time coverage of this novel and unique development in Grand Slam tennis. The reimagined US Open Mixed Doubles Championship brings the blended intensity and camaraderie of mixed doubles to a wide ESPN audience,” said Tim Bunnell, senior vice president of programming & acquisitions, ESPN. “It is an ideal fit for US Open Fan Week programming, and a compelling momentum builder to the main draw. We applaud and eagerly anticipate this innovative effort by the USTA.”

​

Fans, Players, Partners, Broadcasters All Share the Benefits of this Reimagined Format 

  • Sports’ biggest stars on the court – The world’s best players will now have an opportunity to compete for a coveted Mixed Doubles Grand Slam title, a multi-million dollar purse, and a $1 million prize to the winning team. Additionally, a condensed format for the US Open Mixed Doubles Championship will better accommodate players’ schedules while providing greater opportunities for fans and broadcasters.
  • Dedicated spotlight on mixed doubles – Previous US Open Mixed Doubles Championships have been overshadowed by simultaneous singles and doubles match play, limiting live viewership and lowering the appeal for primetime broadcasts that would otherwise reach a wider and global audience. Additionally, all matches will now be played in Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums signaling the importance and priority of this exciting championship competition.
  • Primetime and international broadcast coverage brings the championship to more viewers worldwide – Semifinals and Finals will air live on ESPN2 in primetime. The first and second rounds will be across ESPN2, ESPNEWS and ESPN+. All MXD matches will be made available to Global Broadcasters, including Sky, Eurosport, and WOWOW. All matches will be available to International Broadcasters (World Feed).
  • Inspiring more fans to pick up a racquet – Bringing mixed doubles to a wider audience is a great way to inspire more people to pick up a racquet. Many Americans already play doubles recreationally and when given the chance to watch the best players in the world teaming up, we believe this will encourage even more to play. 

Filed Under: Archives, Blogs, Fan Watch, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Jessica Pegula, Mixed Doubles, Taylor Fritz, US Open, USTA

Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe – Friends But Rivals

February 20, 2024 by tennisbloggers Leave a Comment

by William Turvey

TenniUpdate

Tennis in the United States has always been big business. From academies dotted across Florida, to hundreds of professional players, to tournament after tournament. And for a while, tennis had their big stars. But in the new era, we have three Americans who stand out, all fighting to be the new Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras or Andy Roddick. And of course, they’re Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Tommy Paul.

They’ve grown up and played against each other from a young age. Fritz often stays in Miami while Tiafoe and Paul have properties on Florida’s east coast. So, this means that they’re close.

In an interview with Frances Tiafoe after his quarterfinal win against Flavio Cobolli, Tiafoe said of compatriot Paul: “That’s my guy. He got me the last couple of times, so definitely want to try to win. Gonna be a good match, hope it’s packed.”

Cleary, these guys are good buddies. But unless you’re at the Davis Cup, tennis is an individual sport. It’s all about you. You can’t afford to make best friends with your compatriots. You need to focus on yourself. Your career. So, when you have these “big three” Americans entered in the Delray Beach Open draw, do things get competitive? Over several interviews with each of these players, we uncovered some different perspectives.

When asking Taylor Fritz about his upcoming final against Paul, we wondered does his nationality (being two Americans of the same era in the final) make a difference? Taylor said: “I’m not sure. For me in finals, I feel as though I’ve always approached it the same. Once you get this deep into the tournament you’re just more confident in your game and more relaxed and not feeling that pressure as much.”

Another quote that helped us learn more about Fritz’s mentality is in response to a similar question: “With you being the number one ranked American, and an all-American semi-final here in Delray. How do you handle the pressure?” Taylor said: “I think it helps that this week wouldn’t change—I think there’d be a lot more pressure if whoever wins this week takes the spot but um, I just try to focus, I try to treat each year like everyones starting at zero. I’m not looking at the rankings like up and down, I didn’t realize until yesterday that if I didn’t win today I wouldn’t be in the top 10.”

With other things Paul and Tiafoe said which we won’t share due to lack of space, it’s fair to say we got the same gist from all three. Yes, they are friends. Yes, they have known each other for a long time and care about each other. But as we said before, they’re still out for themselves. It is not so competitive that they are all constantly checking the rankings, constantly focused on who is going to move up to what place.

But when asked in Newport what the ultimate goal was, Paul said: “Be number one and win Grand Slams. I think that’s every tennis player’s dream.” And all three agree. They all want to be the one to hold that Grand Slam trophy in their hands, and be the one to have a big fat 1 next to their names, but at the end of the day, they’re compatriots and friends, and they’re still up for cracking jokes in the locker rooms and hanging out. 

Filed Under: Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Delray Beach Open, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul

Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebi Korda Highlight U.S. Davis Cup Team For Face Colombia In Reno

February 2, 2022 by Randy Walker Leave a Comment

The USTA and United States Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish today announced that Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Jack Sock and Rajeev Ram will represent the U.S. for its Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifying tie vs. Colombia March 4-5 in Reno, Nevada.

Davis Cup is the World Cup of Men’s Tennis and is the largest international team competition in world sport, with nearly 150 nations competing each year. The Qualifier vs. Colombia is a best-of-five match series played over two days, beginning with two singles matches on Friday, March 4. A doubles match and two reverse singles matches will follow on Saturday, March 5. The first to win three of those matches will advance to the 2022 Davis Cup Finals – a 16-nation, multi-city competition held later this year with dates and locations to be announced. 

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased at usta.com/daviscup or via Ticketmaster.

The U.S. team competing in Reno is full of the sport’s top young rising stars and established Grand Slam champions.

Fritz, 24, is the top-ranked American man at No. 20 and reached the final 16 at the Australian Open this year. The Californian has competed for the U.S. in Davis Cup since 2019, when, at 21 years old, he became the youngest American to debut in the Top 25 since Andy Roddick in 2004.

Paul, 24, is ranked No. 42 and will be making his second Davis Cup appearance. A former junior French Open champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympian, Paul earned his first career win over a Top 5-ranked opponent and won his first ATP singles title in 2021.

Korda, 21, is ranked No. 43 and will be making his Davis Cup debut. A former junior world No. 1 and one of the sport’s top young rising stars, Korda rose from outside the Top 300 to inside the Top 40 in a span of less than two years and won his first ATP singles title in 2021.

Sock, 29, has been ranked as high as No. 2 in doubles and No. 8 in singles and has been playing Davis Cup since 2015. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 2016 Rio Olympic men’s doubles gold medalist, Sock is 9-4 overall in Davis Cup play with a 5-1 mark in doubles.

Ram, 37, is ranked a career-high No. 4 in doubles and is making his second consecutive Davis Cup appearance. A two-time U.S. Olympian and 2016 Rio silver medalist in mixed doubles, Ram won his second Grand Slam and third ATP Masters 1000 doubles titles last summer at the US Open and Toronto, respectively, and owns 22 career ATP doubles titles.

This is the first time Davis Cup has been played in Northern Nevada. Davis Cup has only come to Nevada once before, a 1995 matchup between the U.S. and Sweden at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas that the U.S. won en route to winning the title that year. The United States owns an all-time record of 114-19 when playing at home and last won the title in 2007.

The U.S. and Colombia have split their four Davis Cup meetings, with the Colombians winning the latest matchup in the group stages of the 2021 Finals last fall in Turin, Italy.

Deloitte is the official sponsor of the U.S. Davis Cup Team. Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup Team.

For more information, including access to player and historical records, visit www.usta.com/daviscup or www.daviscup.com.

Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz

Filed Under: Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Davis Cup, jack sock, Mardy Fish, rajeev ram, Sebi Korda, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, USTA

Taylor Fritz Still One of America’s Great Hopes

June 16, 2017 by tennisbloggers

Taylor Fritz is one of the most promising tennis players that America has to offer, although he has endured a difficult period since his emergence on the ATP World Tour. His struggles continued on the grass of Stuttgart, with the young American failing to make it past the first qualifying round. Fritz has spent a few months away from the game, but on his return has lost in the first round of the Surbiton Challenger in addition to Stuttgart in matches which he entered as heavy favourite. The 19-year-old has time on his side, but he will be keen to prove that his breakout season in the sport was not an anomaly.

Fritz’s best career performance came in just his third ATP tournament, with his run in Memphis the first appearance in a final for eight years by an 18-year-old. He ultimately lost to Kei Nishikori, a mainstay of the top ten in the rankings, but Fritz’s youthful exuberance impressed the tennis world. Fritz consolidated this showing with a quarter-final run in Acapulco, eventually succumbing to compatriot Sam Querrey, and a slightly weaker end to the year could not take the shine of a remarkable season.

Fritz stormed to a career-high ranking of 53 as an 18-year-old, prompting inevitable assertions that he was the next great American hope and a future Grand Slam winner. Of course, few would have expected him to be challenging for those titles while still at a very young age, but the latest tennis odds of Fritz being 250/1 to win Wimbledon accurately reflect how his development has slightly stagnated. Incidentally, the leading American players that Fritz was expected to sit alongside sooner rather than later, Jack Sock and John Isner, are odds of 100/1 to triumph on the grass in London.

American Slam success, in the men’s game at least, does not appear to be on the immediate horizon. However, Jelena Ostapenko’s remarkable run to take the French Open singles title as an unseeded player highlights how a great couple of weeks can change everything. Fritz is a great couple of weeks away from shooting up the rankings. It was his adventures in Memphis that propelled him up the rankings, and it was never really expected that Fritz would consolidate all of those ranking points the following year. He made the last sixteen in 2017’s iteration of the tournament at Memphis, which is still a commendable showing.

Fritz’s success in Memphis and Acapulco, combined with his scope for growth, means that expectations are high of the young American. Pressure can be telling, with perhaps the relative grass-court experience of veteran Marco Chiudinelli the difference in Stuttgart between success and failure. However, the emergence of other young Americans will take the spotlight off Fritz, and this could be a constructive development in his progress.

Frances Tiafoe has soared up the rankings and has held his own against Roger Federer. The big-serving Reilly Opelka reached the quarter-finals of the grass-court challenger in Surbiton and his game should suit the green surface. Opelka looks on course to break the top 100 soon, where other young Americans Jared Donaldson and Ernesto Escobedo already reside with Tiafoe. The future is bright for American tennis, and Fritz will inevitably work his way back up the ranks. With such a deep source of talent for American fans to root for, Fritz should be able to play with less pressure and recapture the heights of 2016.

Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz

Filed Under: Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Taylor Fritz, Tennis, Wimbledon

Bjorn Frantangelo Impresses Against Novak Djokovic – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

March 14, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

 

  • At No. 149 in the world, Bjorn Fratangelo became the lowest ranked player to take a set off of Novak Djokovic since No. 174 Nicolas Almagro, who was returning from injury at the time, won the second set in their meeting in Rome in May of 2015. The last time Djokovic lost a first set to a player outside of the Top 100 was when he dropped the first set to No. 158 Lleyton Hewitt in the 2012 Olympics.
  • 18 year old Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe did battle in the first round in Indian Wells with Tiafoe wining in three sets. It was the first all-teen matchup in Indian Wells since Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori in 2008.
  • With Borna Coric and Alex Zverev reaching the third round in Indian Wells, it marks the first time since 2007 that multiple teenagers made the third round of the event. Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Evgeny Korolev were the players who did so.
  • For the first time since 2010 in Indian Wells, no German woman reached the third round of the event.
  • The No. 1 doubles seed in Indian Wells lost in the first round for the first time since 1998 as Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau lost to Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, 10-6 in a match tiebreak.
  • The final of the Jonkoping challenger lasted two hours and 44 minutes, making it the longest final on the challenger circuit in 2016. Andrey Golubev took home the title by beating Karen Khachanov, 6-7(9), 7-6(5), 7-6(4), saving four match points along the way. The four match points saved was the most in a challenger final since Tim Smyczek saved four in the Tiburon Challenger in 2015.
  • The challenger event in Santiago saw a 19-year age difference in the first round as 38 year old Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo took on 19 year old Christian Garin. Ramirez Hidalgo came out with the victory in three sets.
  • Facundo Bagnis became the first player to successfully defend a challenger title in 2016, winning the title in Santiago for the second straight year, also making it three titles in four tries in the Chilean capital.

Bjorn Frantangelo
Bjorn Frantangelo

Filed Under: Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News Tagged With: Bjorn Frantangelo, BNP Paribas Open, Borna Coric, Frances Tiafoe, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz, Dominic Thiem Have Historic Weeks – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

February 15, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

 

  • Taylor Fritz’s run to the final in Memphis included numerous impressive stats. Fritz became the youngest American to make an ATP semifinal since Michael Chang made the Wembley semifinals in 1989. Fritz also joined an exclusive list of Americans who had reached a final while 18 years old, including Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and Chang. Fritz also became the first 18 year old overall to reach an ATP final since Kei Nishikori, who beat Fritz in the final in Memphis, made the final in Delray Beach in 2008.
  • Dominic Thiem’s win over Rafael Nadal in Buenos Aires saw Thiem become only the third player to save match points in a win over Nadal on clay. The previous two were Nicolas Lapentti and David Ferrer.
  • The loss to Thiem moves Nadal’s record against Top 50 players in 2016 to 0-3, while his record against players outside the Top 50 is 6-0.
  • Only six active players on the WTA have been able to reach a Top 10 ranking at a younger age than Belinda Bencic. Those six are Martina Hingis, Nicole Vaidisova, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki, with Vaidisova being the only one of that failed to reach a No. 1 world ranking. Bencic clinched a spot in the Top 10 this week with her run to the final in St. Petersburg.
  • Nishikori’s win in Memphis made it the fourth straight year that he has won the event. Nishikori joins Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Nadal as the only other active players with four-peats on the ATP World Tour.
  • During his title run in Rotterdam, Martin Klizan became the first player on the ATP to save match points in multiple matches en route to the final since Rajeev Ram did so in Newport in July of 2015.
  • Marco Cecchinato’s struggles on the ATP World Tour continue as he has now lost 11 straight tour level matches to start his career. This week in Buenos Aires, he was downed by Juan Monaco in straight sets.

    Taylor Fritz
    Taylor Fritz

Filed Under: Archives, Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Taylor Fritz

Five American Teens Playing This Week In Memphis – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

February 8, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

 

  • Victor Estrella Burgos became just the seventh player on the ATP to win a title after turning 35 years old since 1980 as he won his second title in Quito in a row this week. Jaime Fillol, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Fabrice Santoro, Tommy Haas, and Ivo Karlovic were the previous six to do so.
  • Dustin Brown reached his first career ATP semifinal in Montpellier this week after going 0-8 in ATP quarterfinal matches to start off his career.
  • Paolo Lorenzi earned his first Top 20 win in a completed match in Quito this week after defeating Bernard Tomic. Lorenzi was previously 0-22 against Top 20 opponents.
  • In Memphis this week, five American teens are playing in an ATP main draw for the first time since the 2006 US Open. Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Taylor Fritz received wild cards and were joined by Michael Mmoh and Jared Donaldson via qualifying.
  • Alex Zverev became only the second player on the ATP this season to reach the semifinals of both the singles and doubles at the same event. In Montpellier, he made the semifinals in singles before losing to Paul-Henri Mathieu, while also making the final of the doubles event with his brother Mischz Zverev, losing out to Mate Pavic and Michael Venus. Benoit Paire was the previous player to make the semifinals of both the singles and doubles at the same event, doing so in Chennai in the first week of the year.
  • Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans played in only the second all-British challenger final, the first of which that took place outside of Great Britain. The previous all-British challenger final took place in Nottingham in 2005 with Alex Bogdanovic beating Mark Hilton. Edmund won the final with Evans in straight sets,
  • 19 year old Blake Mott of Australia won his first challenger title this week after only having three previous challenger main draw wins and being ranked outside of the Top 700.

    Taylor Fritz
    Taylor Fritz

Filed Under: Archives, Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Frances Tiafoe, Jared Donaldson, Kyle Edmund, memphis, Michael Mmoh, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Victor Estrella Burgos

Djokovic Wins 60th Title, Reaches Final of Every Tournament in 52 Weeks – Passing Shots with Kevin Craig

January 10, 2016 by tennisbloggers

by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

  • In Doha, Novak Djokovic was able to win the title (the 60th of his career) and reach his 16th consecutive final, making it so that in the past 52 weeks, Djokovic has been to the final of every tournament he has played. Djokovic did not drop a set all week and was only taken beyond 6-3 twice, including a 6-1, 6-2 win over Rafael Nadal in the final. In a simple recipe for success for the week, Djokovic won 77% of his first serve points and broke his opponents a total of 20 times.
  • Victoria Azarenka won her first title since August 2013 as she defeated Angelique Kerber in the final in Brisbane. Azarenka was not taken beyond 6-3 in a set all week as she was able to break her opponents 29 times. The win sets up Azarenka for a Top 16 seed at the Australian Open.
  • Stan Wawrinka won his third consecutive title in Chennai by defeating Borna Coric 6-3, 7-5. Wawrinka did not drop a set in four matches and was only broken once all week as he hit 41 aces. Wawrinka is now 8-0 in titles since the start of the 2014 season, including his wins at the 2014 Australian Open and the 2015 French Open. Before 2014, Wawrinka was just 4-9 in finals.
  • Taylor Fritz won his third challenger title by defeating Dudi Sela 7-6, 6-2 in Happy Valley. The win made Fritz’s career challenger record 22-5 and was his fourth Top 100 win. Fritz’s ranking at the start of the 2015 season was 1151, but this win will boost his ranking to about 154, just shy of a 1000 spot improvement from a year ago.
  • Sloane Stephens won her second career title by defeating Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-2, while fellow American Alison Riske made the final in Shenzhen, losing out to Agnieszka Radwanska. Previously to this week, no American woman had made the final of a tournament in the first week of the season since Lindsay Davenport made the final of Auckland in 2008.
  • Also in Doha, Illya Marchenko made his first ATP semifinal since 2010 in St. Petersburg. Along the way, Marchenko was able to beat David Ferrer, Teymuraz Gabashvili, and Jeremy Chardy. The win against Ferrer was his first Top 10 win in five tries.
  • Thomas Fabbiano won his first ATP main draw matches as he made the quarterfinals in Chennai after making it through qualies. In the second round, Fabbiano beat Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-5, and managed to break the big server four times, despite Muller hitting 14 aces and winning 79% of his first serve points. The quarterfinal run will allow Fabbiano to reach a new career high ranking of 142.
  • Go Soeda made the final of the Bangkok Challenger, making 2016 the 11th consecutive year that he has made a challenger final, dating back to 2006. He fell to Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3, 6-4, as Youzhny continues his attempt to rejoin the Top 100.
  • In Brisbane, Samantha Crawford made her first WTA semifinal in just her fifth main draw appearance. Crawford got her first two Top-25 wins by defeating Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic. Throughout her qualifying and main draw matches, the big hitting American hit 64 aces and won 73% of her first serve points as she prepares for her appearance at the Australian Open via a wild card.

    Novak Djokovic
    Novak Djokovic

Filed Under: Archives, Blogs, Featured Columns, Latest News, Lead Story Tagged With: Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Victoria Azarenka

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