Fritz Earns Comeback Win In Munich Debut

Taylor Fritz continued his strong start to the European clay-court season with a debut win on Thursday at the BMW Open by American Express. The American backed up his run to the Monte-Carlo semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory against Marton Fucsovics to advance to the quarter-finals at the Munich ATP 250.

“First match, I had to get used to the conditions,” Fritz said of his performance. “Everything plays a bit different. It’s obviously very cold. I took some time to feel it out and I feel like I just played better as the match kept going.”

Fritz improved to 29-25 on clay courts with the win, with a 4-1 mark this season. The second seed will seek his 30th career victory on the dirt against either Dominic Thiem or eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler on Friday.

After dropping serve twice in the opening set against Fucsovics, Fritz faced just one break point across sets two and three, crucially saving it at 2-2 in the third. He scored his fourth break of the match on his seventh break point late in the decider and served out the victory in the ensuing game, wrapping up the win in just under two hours.

Fritz fired nine aces and won 83 per cent (35/42) of his first-serve points in the victory.

The American, who reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 5 in February, entered Munich as the World No. 10. He is seeking his second title of 2023 after his triumph on home soil in Delray Beach.

The Thursday nightcap in Munich between Thiem and Huesler was suspended due to darkness with the Swiss leading 7-5, 3-3. Huesler defeated Kyle Edmund in three first-round sets while Thiem won the first set against Constant Lestienne in his opening match before the Frenchman retired with a calf injury.