Fritz Makes Fast Start To Grass Season In Stuttgart

Taylor Fritz is up and running on grass in 2023.

The American opened his campaign on the surface with victory at the BOSS OPEN on Thursday, defeating Aslan Karatsev 7-6(4), 6-3 at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart.

Fritz lifted the trophy in Eastbourne and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year and quickly found his range on grass again against Karatsev. He fired 14 aces and saved one set point at 4-5 in the first set to move past the World No. 48 in one hour and 25 minutes.

The second seed, currently ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will meet Marton Fucsovics in the quarter-final. Earlier this year, Fritz clinched his fifth tour-level title in Delray Beach.

Earlier, Hungarian qualifier Fucsovics backed up his first-round win against Denis Shapovalov by overcoming Chinese player Yibing Wu. The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart in 2019 and 2022 and will aim to better that when he next meets Fritz.