- Taylor Fritz overcame a mediocre first set to reach the last eight in New York
- In the next round he will face either Alexander Zverev or Brandon Nakashima
Taylor Fritz has been a symbol of consistency this calendar year, but as he himself said before his crucial fourth-round match against Casper Ruud, he will have to ‘really raise the level’ to get past the world number 8.
He certainly succeeded with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Norwegian in a match that was characterised by both service and fighting spirit.
Ruud made a number of double faults that were not made in time, including one that gave Fritz the second set, but Fritz hit 24 aces – including the decisive aces – and managed to distance himself from his opponent, despite the many unnecessary errors he made.
The world number 12 is the first American to reach the fourth round of all four Grand Slams in a single calendar year since Andre Agassi in 2003. He will certainly take confidence from the way he battled Ruud as he looks to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Ruud’s service problems later in the match did not let him go. However, he was dominant in the beginning of the match and stuck to his ground game. And it was he, and not Fritz, who struck the first blow of the afternoon.
The first separation between the players who were close together came in the eighth game of the first set. Ruud caused the first break with a deep return, forcing Fritz to shoot the ball into the net. This allowed him to win the set.
Taylor Fritz shook off an opening set loss to comfortably defeat Casper Ruud on Sunday
Ruud started strong, but faded and made double faults at crucial moments
It was a fairly exciting half hour of tennis, but it was certainly not Fritz’s best performance. He made 15 unforced errors, compared to only seven for Ruud.
He improved his game more and more, but the final breakthrough in the second set still did not come easily, as his serve sometimes went up and down.
One game that really showed the inconsistency (and importance) of Fritz’s service in this match came at 2-2 in the second set. He double-faulted, putting Ruud at 30-30. He made his next point with an ace, but then missed his first serve on the next point, before hitting the ball too far and going into deuce (which he won with the help of another ace).
The next two games followed a similar service-oriented theme, as Ruud had to survive a break point after two consecutive double faults, while Fritz then escaped a double break point with aces at 40-40 and a deuce to regain the lead in the set.
It looked like Fritz would finally force his breakthrough when Ruud was 3-4 behind on serve. The two played four times two and Fritz still had a break point.
Fritz played much cleaner tennis as the match progressed and is now in the last eight
But he could not get past his stubborn opponent and at one point saw how a miraculous save from a net shot only led to extra time for the Norwegian.
But the dam finally broke for Fritz when Ruud served at 5-4, while a packed crowd in the Louis Armstrong Stadium cheered the top-ranked American with ‘Let’s go Taylor’ slogans.
Once again the service proved crucial when Ruud double faulted and gave the second set to Fritz. From that moment on the American took control of the match.
In both the third and fourth sets, Fritz managed to break his opponent at the first opportunity. After a few early mistakes by the American, it was Ruud who became nervous and made a double fault in the last set, giving his opponent a comfortable lead of 3-0.
Fritz needed no further invitation to finish the match and is now on the verge of reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final.
A confrontation with Alexander Zverev or Brandon Nakashima beckons, but he has every reason to feel good after his convincing victory over Ruud.