Throughout the second half of 2015, things were almost coming too easily for American Taylor Fritz, currently number 73 in the live rankings. Playing in, from what I can, only his second ATP Challenger Tour event ever, the essentially unknown Fritz blitzed the field in Sacramento. The surprises really started in the Second Round when he beat Dustin Brown in a tight three-set match before then taking out Jared Donaldson, another young American talent much higher in the rankings at the time, in the Final, showing mental resiliency from a blown second set.
This was followed by an astonishing run in the Fairfield Challenger, where he didn't drop a set. In fact, no opponent even got five games in a set against Taylor in that tournament. He beat Brown in the Final there, proving that the previous week was anything but a fluke. Then, just a few tournaments later for Fritz, when his results seemed to have slowed, Taylor made the Final of the Champaign Challenger, barely losing in three sets to Henri Laaksonen in the Final there, and thus ending a very successful 2015 campaign for Fritz.
With little points to defend in 2016, Fritz kept up his frantic pace of picking up points. His first challenger tournament in 2016 resulted in a win in Happy Valley, a tournament in which he only dropped one set and beat veteran Dudi Sela in the Final. Fritz then qualified for the Australian Open and took Jack Sock to five sets, before then reaching the Final in an ATP World Tour 250 event, losing in a tight battle to Kei Nishikori. It seemed like everything was clicking for Fritz, he reached as high as number 69 in the world (still very close to what he is now), and his climb to the Top 50 seemed inevitable at that point. So, what happened?
Well, initially, nothing happened. After an early loss in Delray Beach, Taylor still had an impressive run as a qualifier to the Quarterfinals of Acapulco and was a set away from the semis. And while Fritz then lost in the First Round of Indian Wells, that was a very understandable loss, as his opponent, Frances Tiafoe knew him very well from their days playing junior tennis. Fritz qualified in Miami and came within a point of winning the first set in the Second Round against hardened veteran, and a player near the top of the game, David Ferrer.
However, this is about where the good results end for Taylor. He shockingly lost in the First Round of a challenger event in Leon to Agustin Velotti and lost to Malek Jaziri in the semis of the next challenger he played, struggling with a couple lower ranked players in previous rounds just to get to that point. Obviously, something was changing in either Taylor's level of play, or, more interestingly, in how opponents approached playing Fritz. This was further exemplified in Taylor's losses in the First Round of qualies of both Madrid and Rome to Radek Stepanek, his first ventures to the European clay (and Europe in general) as an ATP-level player.
I think that there are two main factors in play as to why Taylor is starting to stagnate in terms of results, beyond just a dip in his level of play. The first is that, I believe, opponents are finally starting to get good tape of Taylor and are figuring out how to play him effectively. Fritz essentially barnstormed the challenger circuit when he first started playing ATP Challenger Tour matches. Here was a guy who hit the ball with such power, had a rocket serve, and who just seemed to overpower opponents, despite, in my opinion, not really utilizing the width of the court or incorporating much variety in his game. But, at first it didn't matter, as opponents didn't know much about Taylor's game, and quite frankly, weren't ready for what he brought to the table. So, all Fritz had to do was go out there and play his game, and that was usually good enough to win, and win handedly at that.
However, as time goes on, match film comes out that players, and coaches can study, a larger sample size gives a player and his team more information on Fritz's tendencies, and therefore, what parts of his game can be exploited. And so, if Taylor doesn't adjust, players will gradually catch on to his game, and thus, start to beat him. And so, perhaps Fritz naively thought that he could keep playing without making adjustments and this would allow him to rise to the top of the men's game unhindered, I don't know, but I think this is a major reason why his results have slowed, and a guy like Tiafoe was just ahead of the rest of the field in exploiting this in Indian Wells. It's up to Taylor to adjust his tendencies not only to opponents, but ultimately to surfaces other than hard courts in order to keep up his ascent in men's tennis.
The other big factor in why I think Taylor has stalled in the rankings a bit is because he is now playing on European clay courts, definitely not in his comfort zone. Those hard courts in North America, but especially the US, were Fritz's bread-and-butter. It was his best surface (at least compared to clay, the jury is still out regarding grass) and he was playing in front of friendly fans, and overall, in a very comfortable environment. There seems to be no better place in this world for Fritz to rise in the rankings and breakthrough. But, alas, you can't get by only playing on one surface and in one area of the world. I commend Taylor for his good results in Australia, but I think that when he struggled with his surroundings, the hard court surface was there to bail him out a bit. Things aren't coming so easily for him on European clay, but to be honest, that's to be expected.
Because, to be completely honest, I commend Taylor for giving European clay a try, instead of just staying in his comfort zone in the United States, playing the US green clay events and, instead, challenging himself in Europe. And, yes, the results weren't there this time around, but I think that playing in Europe on a surface he isn't totally comfortable on was a great idea. Taylor is getting used to unfamiliar surroundings and competition, in Stepanek, that is unlike what he would see normally on the challenger tour, despite Radek's current live ranking of 132. Because Stepanek is crafty veteran who won't wilt to Fritz's power game, a player who will try to outwit Taylor. And it's good for Fritz to get experience playing a guy like Radek, as it can only help him adjust to the level of play he will see on the main tour, and ultimately, make him better.
I think Fritz's run in Memphis was a little bit of fool's gold, I'm not going to lie. Despite the fact that he was playing in very friendly surroundings, something that I think is irrelevant in this case, Fritz played a Futures/Challenger level player in his first match against Michael Mmoh, a stagnant Steve Johnson in the Second Round. Then, Fritz played a Challenger-level player, Benjamin Becker in the Quarterfinals, before taking Ricardas Berankis in the Semifinals, who I believe to having a very inflated ranking due to the number of challenger events he plays. So, while Taylor should be commended for reaching the Final, let's not pretend like he faced top competition in getting there.
And, because of this, I think the American tennis media did Fritz a huge disservice by pumping him up and putting so much additional pressure on his back, when he's only 18 years old, much like the hype that Ryan Harrison and Donald Young got in his early days playing professional. Sometimes, it's good to praise a young man for a good tournament, without proclaiming that he will be a top-tier player very shortly, instead letting the talented player to mature at his own pace and go through the ups and downs of professional tennis.
Because, it would be impossible for a tennis player to not have any growing pains in his or her career. And that's just what these results are for Taylor: growing pains. Yes, losing in the First Rounds of qualies to the same player twice might not feel good for Fritz right now, but it is ultimately necessary for him to go through stretches like this in order to get to the top of the game. And while I think that Taylor might need to adapt his game to the growing knowledge of what he brings to the table, that's a fix that can be done, and will be done, with time.
I understand why the American tennis media wants the next "star" American urgently. The top players on the men's side right now are on a downward swing. John Isner is showing zero ambition by not going the Olympics, instead opting to stay in his comfort zone by play an ATP 250 event in Atlanta. Jack Sock is turning out to be an unfit, petulant, whiner who refuses to improve his backhand. Sam Querrey, while showing glimmers of hope by winning Delray Beach, continues to be all serve, but little else to offer. Donald Young's forehand has turned out to be absolutely horrific, and Ryan Harrison has a horrific attitude, like Sock, but without the good attributes of Jack's game. And ultimately, guys like Fritz and Tiafoe have to take the heat for the generation before them. Because, the tennis media in the US know that they need someone to hype up, someone to save American men's tennis from going down the tubes.
So, what they do is push the envelope, ignoring the benefits of giving these young talents time to improve, and ultimately, find themselves. And, ultimately, that's all I think Taylor Fritz needs: time to work out the kinks in his game and get comfortable playing on any surface, anywhere. Because, whether people like to admit it or not, growing pains are part of the process, even for someone as talented as Taylor Fritz.
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