Fritz Battles Past Norrie To Force Critical Deciding Doubles
Taylor Fritz has forced a critical deciding doubles match in the ATP Cup tie between the United States and Great Britain on Thursday with a gritty 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-1 victory against Briton Cameron Norrie. Fritz and John Isner will play Daniel Evans and Jamie Murray in the doubles.
The country that claims the doubles will maintain its hopes of winning Group C and advancing to the semi-finals in Sydney, while the losing side will be eliminated. If the United States and Canada triumph Thursday, the United States will go through. If Great Britain and Germany emerge victorious, Great Britain will win the group and advance.
Fritz now leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 5-4 after an impressive bounceback in the third set. The American has spoken this week about how he has crafted his forehand into more of a weapon, and it paid dividends in the decider.
“Cam and I have played so many times, it’s actually pretty ridiculous. Every single time it’s just an absolute battle,” Fritz said. “I know that he can go into these modes where he will just not miss a ball and he kind of did that in the second and I was getting pretty frustrated with the shots he was coming up with.
“I had to just let it go in the third set, reset and try to serve a little better so he didn’t get so many chances to hit those unreal shots and I upped my level a lot in the third and played really well.”
Fritz broke immediately in the third set by attacking Norrie’s backhand. He did not face a break point in the third to close out his win after one hour and 58 minutes.
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
In the No. 2 singles, Evans completed a sweep of his three Group C singles matches by toppling Isner 6-4, 7-6(3).
Evans has been dominant at No. 2 singles throughout the week, winning all six sets in his matches. The 31-year-old withstood Isner’s 16 aces, won 87 per cent of his service points and did not face a break point in his one-hour, 35-minute victory.
“You’ve got to be ready to not touch the ball a few times. I think in the second set I didn’t win many points on his serve, so it was difficult, but you know you’re going to get a few chances if you get the ball back and that’s the nature of that match. It’s great to come through and set the tone, not just for my match, but for the tie. We needed this one, so it was important.”
Evans broke early in the first set to storm ahead and he controlled baseline rallies throughout by attacking the American’s backhand with depth and preventing Isner from crushing too many forehands. The Briton earned an immediate mini-break on the first point of the second-set tie-break by hitting a dipping backhand passing shot that Isner was unable to handle. After the 36-year-old hit a final forehand return into the net, Evans lifted his arms in celebration.
“It was really important to concentrate early, focus,” Evans said. “We don’t really play this early that often, so I got up extra early this morning and really made a conscious effort to come out of the blocks.”