Fritz on Fixing Dominant Djokovic: I am Due

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, October 11, 2024
Photograph credit score: Rob Newell/CameraSport

Tennis is all about timing.

Going through Novak Djokovic is not a great time for Taylor Fritz.

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US Open finalist Fritz carries an ignominious 0-9 lifetime report vs. Grand Slam king Djokovic into their Rolex Shanghai Masters semifinal on Saturday.

In a few of these 9 conferences, Djokovic has smoked Fritz so totally—together with a 6-0, 6-4 sweep within the 2023 Cincinnati quarterfinals—it is a surprise the scalding did not go away burn marks.

Contemplate the actual fact Djokovic performs a few of his finest tennis in Asia and can be supremely motivated standing simply two match wins from a milestone a hundredth profession championship.

So why is Fritz optimistic about Saturday’s shot at four-time Shanghai champion Djokovic?

Contesting his fifth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal, Fritz has cause to consider in his kind and his shot.

The seventh-seeded Fritz has not surrendered a set in 4 match wins, is serving sharply and empowered by the boldness that comes from his run to his maiden main closing in Flushing Meadows.

Whereas he wasn’t channeling Vitas Gerulatis’ famed “nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 instances in a row” battle cry, Fritz feels he is due for the breakthrough.

“We performed lots of instances, and I’ve by no means gotten him, so I am actually, actually simply ready for that, you understand, excited for the possibility, and ready for that point when, you understand, perhaps I can get a primary win on him,” Fritz stated of dealing with Djokovic. “So, that’s one thing I, you understand, I might be actually enthusiastic about.

“Clearly, extremely robust. I feel, it could possibly be 0-10, however I feel it is 0-9 (smiling), however, you understand, hopefully one in every of these instances I am due, as a result of I am solely getting higher and higher and, yeah, I am excited on the alternative to play him.”

The serve can be essential for Fritz, a pure ball-striker, who has been burned in operating rallies by the 37-year-old Serbian famous person previously.

In Djokovic’s three-set quarterfinal win over 19-year-old powerhouse baseliner Jakub Mensik right this moment, the previous world No. 1 received a majority of the longer rallies although he did tug at his left leg late within the third set.

“I imply, it is a unusual feeling, to be sincere, these couple of factors in that recreation, however after that it was high-quality,” Djokovic advised the media in Shanghai. “So, hopefully when it cools down I am not going to have any troubles with it, as a result of I have already got troubles with the appropriate knee, so it would not be nice. Yeah, let’s have a look at what tomorrow brings.”

Assuming Djokovic’s legs are high-quality, Fritz will want serve with command and play some intervals of first-strike tennis as Djokovic is the superior all-court participant who’s extra harmful from extra areas of the courtroom. Fritz has fended off 9 of 12 break factors in his 4 Shanghai wins.

Fritz is fourth on the ATP Tour in service video games held this season (88 p.c) trailing solely world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Hubert Hurkacz in that very important class.

“I feel my serve’s all the time been an enormous a part of my recreation. It is all the time been, you understand, the most effective, if not the most effective a part of my recreation,” Fritz advised the media in Shanghai. “However I feel generally this 12 months, this complete 12 months, I’ve felt like I have been in a greater rhythm with my serve.

“There’s been instances the place it hasn’t felt perhaps nearly as good as I would really like it to, however yeah, particularly within the final match after which this match, much more so within the second set of this match, yeah, I really feel like I am serving a great proportion and hitting spots very nicely.”