Taylor Fritz enjoyed a great day at the office at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney. World no. 9 scored another victory for the USA at the inaugural United Cup following a rock-solid 6-1, 6-4 triumph over world no. 12 Alexander Zverev. It was another pale performance from former world no. 2, playing miles below his best, especially in the opening set. Fritz needed 64 minutes to seal the deal, dropping eight points behind the initial shot and defending the only break point he faced. The pressure was on Zverev, and he could not deal with it. The German served at 80%, but it brought him nothing after hitting five double faults and giving away 43% of the points behind the initial shot. Fritz turned them into three breaks from six opportunities, enough to seal the deal in straight sets. The American was flawless in the opener, serving and returning well and wrapping it up in 21 minutes!
Taylor Fritz dropped only five games against Alexander Zverev.
Taylor held at 15 in the encounter’s first game and grabbed an early break in the next one after Alexander’s double fault. Fritz cemented the lead with a booming ace in game three and moved 4-0 up after 12 minutes following Zverev’s double fault. The American held at love in game five for 5-0 before the German avoided a bagel with a service winner in the next one. Taylor landed another powerful serve at 5-1 to seal the opening set in no time and gain a boost ahead of the second. Alexander defended a break point at the start of the second set to end his downfall before spraying a forehand error in game and falling 2-1 behind.
Taylor held at love with a service winner in game four, and Alexander repeated that in the next one for 2-3. Fritz netted a backhand in game six and faced the first and only break point. He denied it with a forehand down the line winner and held after Zverev’s loose forehand. Alexander produced another hold at love in game seven to remain in touch. However, his return was off again in the next one, as Taylor gained a 5-3 advantage. Zverev served to stay in the match in game nine and faced a match point. He denied it with a backhand down the line winner and closed the game with a drop shot winner to prolong the action. Taylor served for the victory at 5-4 and fired three winners to seal the deal in style and deliver a point for his country over Germany.
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